Miracle Child
by Yoimxxxxxx
Summary: A year of their marriage has officially passed by, and even though they are completely happy with each other, something still feels like it's missing. Is jeopardizing his life truly worth filling the void? A SasuNeji Story. AU.
1. Prologue

**Parings: SasuNeji, NaruHina, And ShikaTema.  
Rated: M for yaoi, mpreg (tastefully done), sex, minor coarse language.**

**Summary: A year of their marriage has officially passed by, and even though they are completely happy with each other, something still feels like it's missing. Is jeopardizing his life truly worth filling the void?**

**I DO NOT OWN NARUTO.**

* * *

-Prologue-

The warm sun rays radiated his skin as the light came through the window. Sasuke was slowly waking up, a smile gracing his pale face. He had been dreaming about his beautiful brunette husband, this being a week after their one year anniversary. He was too in love with his husband; everything had been perfect since they started dating four years ago. He lay in bed awake, his eyes still closed, rolling over to his love's side of the bed. He placed his head upon the other man's pillow, taking in the aroma of Neji's scent lingering upon it. He smelled so damn good. The shampoo he used in his long tendrils smelled divine; the cologne he wore on a daily basis made Sasuke lust for him. It was so attracting, and he secretly thought Neji would use it on purpose, trying to lure him into bed…and it always worked.

A few minutes of Sasuke lying with his face buried in the pillow, he unexpectedly sat up, realizing there was a problem with the picture in front of him. _Where the hell is Neji?_ He asked himself silently, seeing no sight of his lover in the bedroom or bathroom connected to their room. Throwing his legs over the edge of the bed and slipping on his flannel, plaid pajama pants, he groggily trudged towards the door. He was dragging his feet, rubbing his eyes of sleep causing him to bump into the door frame. _Fuck!_ He cried out, his head now throbbing along with his left big toe that collided with the frame pretty hard.

He placed a firm hand to his head, rubbing the aching spot as he continued into the hallway. Removing his hand from his head and opening his eyes, he saw his beautiful husband sitting on the cream colored suede couch. Neji had a rather sorrowful look on his face, his eyes glued to the television screen but his gaze somewhere else.

"Are you okay, dear?" A worried Sasuke asked his brooding husband as he slid next to him on the couch. He noticed Neji had been awfully quiet lately, and he seemed to be very distant from his raven haired love, tending to leave bed earlier than he used to.

Not realizing he had been spoken too, Neji was shaken out of his zone when a slightly warmed hand placed itself atop his own. "Huh? Did you ask something?"

"I asked if you were okay" the raven haired man restated his question. "You haven't been yourself lately."

"Oh...I'm" he fumbled for the right words, averting his gaze towards his clasped hands, "I've been thinking about our marriage lately."

A dark eyebrow rose, uneasiness evident in his voice "you aren't unhappy, are you?"

"Oh, no! Nothing like that" Neji said looking back towards his love. "It's just, I've been thinking a lot lately about family...how we won't be able to create one of our own." Now, it was Sasuke's face that had the look of disappointment present. "I can't help but feel a sense of sadness when I think about it. When we go running in the park, I can't help but notice the children playing on the playground; the cries of laughter and their crooked smiles of joy as their parents chase after them, or when we visit Hinata and Naruto- the tapping sound of their bundle's feet coming towards them. I..." he paused, a tear forming in the corner of his eye, "really wish we could have that. I knew when I discovered my sexual orientation, I would be giving up certain aspects of life I would fantasize about, and I thought I was over it..." the tear fell as he closed his lids, his head hanging to hide it, "but I guess I was just ignoring it to make myself feel better."

Sasuke leaned in front of his brunette husband, gently pulling his chin up so their lips could meet. Neji accepted the kiss, placing his arms around the other man's neck. Firm hands placed themselves along Neji's waist, pulling him in for a tight embrace. Both sets of lips parted slightly, allowing each other's tongue to meet in the middle. A light moan escaped from Neji's mouth as Sasuke moved his hands down to cup his pert ass, giving a light squeeze to tease his love. Neji's fingers found their way into his husband's soft, shoulder length ebony locks, twirling small strands around his slender fingers and gently tugging as an ass cheek was teased.

Sasuke released Neji's lips, touching the tip of his nose to the other's, slightly panting from the heated kiss. "I want to make love to you" he spoke softly, his warm breath ghosting over his love's kiss swollen lips.

Neji's eyebrow rose in question. _Did he just ignore me for a lay_ he asked himself.

"And before you go off thinking I just ignored you" apparently Sasuke knew what was going on in that pretty little head of his husband, "I didn't." He laced his fingers with Neji's, sitting up to look him directly in the eye "I fully accepted the fact that we wouldn't be able to create a family of our own long before the moment I said 'I do'. I'm completely fine with it. Yes, it does make me a little saddened, but..." he fumbled the fourteen carat white gold diamond wedding band dawning the other man's finger, "I don't hold you accountable for anything, love; it would be selfish, and my relationship with you is way too important to me to let go of because of something neither of us can control. You're more than enough for me, baby, and that will never change."

Neji's eyes glimmered with delight hearing his husband's words sultrily soothe his aching heart. A few more tears managed to slip from the swelling corners of his eyes, just this time happily. He leaned forward and placed a gracious kiss on his lover's lips. Backing from the supple, plump lips of the other man, Sasuke stood up, pulling the other man to his feet and guided him into the bedroom. Pushing the door closed behind them, Sasuke pressed Neji against the closest wall, falling into another passionate kiss with the latter. Placing his hands on Neji's perfect ass once again, he pushed his body flush against his love, grinding his growing erection against the other man. Neji's fingers slipped back into the shoulder length ebony locks, pulling the head they sprouted from in for a deeper open mouth kiss. Sasuke moaned into Neji's mouth haughtily "damn, I want you bad" licking his upper lip, sending a delicious shiver running up the brunette's spine as his erection began to throb. It wasn't long before Sasuke picked his beautiful husband up and placed him gently on their comfortable king sized bed, ready to revel in ecstasy.

xxxx

It had been a few days since the mind numbing, passionate love making between him and his husband. Neji floated along the floors of the living room, Sasuke's breathy "I love you's" still ringing in his ears. The moment played like a film rolling through his head- _his muffled moans filling the air, their sweat slick bodies rubbing generously against one another. His hair sprawled underneath him as his love plunged deeper into the tight heat of his ass, hitting the spongy gland inside repeatedly_- the thought elicited a small moan from him as he bit his bottom lip. He shuddered as he touched _the bruised flesh of his neck from Sasuke sucking roughly on his sweet spot in an attempt to get the brunette beauty to shout his name, and he did succeed. The sheets were no longer composed as Neji's fingernails dug into them, gathering bunches in each of his hands as he climaxed hard. The pleasurable cries of Sasuke's name repeatedly slipped from his lips as his lover filled him with his seed_. _Mmm_ Neji said aloud, opening his eyes when the memory came to an end _with tender kisses between the two_; it was a blissful memory, indeed.

Sauntering into the kitchen, he found a note on the laid atop the counter:

_I brewed you some coffee; you were sleeping so peacefully, so beautifully, I didn't want to wake you. I hope you have a wonderful day, love._

_Love,  
Sasuke._

Neji pressed the note to his chest, exhaling softly- a small smile marking his face. He turned to the cabinet to get a mug for his coffee. _It's still rather warm; he must have not left too long ago_ he thought to himself as he picked up the coffee pot, pouring himself a small cup. Placing the coffee pot back, he brought the cup to his nose and inhaled. _Mmmm, chestnut_ he said silently. Before he could take a sip from the mug, he felt a strange uprising of fluid come into his throat. Unable to keep whatever it was down, he dropped his coffee mug, not noticing he missed the counter and the mug fell to the floor, crashing as he rushed to the bathroom. In moments, he was choking up an oddly colored fluid, coughing in between, holding his hair back as he kneeled over the toilet. A couple more times he threw up, wiping the corners of his mouth with a nearby cloth. He laid his head back onto the cabinet door, closing his eyes and placing a hand on his now aching stomach. "What the hell was that?" he asked himself out loud. "I-I don't even feel sick."

xxxx

Neji found himself over the toilet, the same time every morning for an entire week. He settled the rising questions in his head with the coffee. Maybe it had been bad? Maybe his body was tired of having the hot, bitter liquid poured into it every day? He didn't think to see a doctor; he wasn't running a fever, nor having any other cold or flu symptoms; it had to be nothing, right?

xxxx

Sasuke had the day off. He walked around his beautifully decorated house shirtless, his jeans purposely unbuttoned and slightly hanging off his hips to tease his husband; he had one thing on his mind today, and knowing Neji had been complaining about the time they've lost together since he started his new job, he was sure his lovely brunette had the same idea in mind for today's "activity". He walked into the kitchen where Neji was standing over the sink, washing dishes; coming up behind him with a firm grasp to the ass and a soft kiss to his neck, he was making sure it was known he wanted to claim his stunning husband again.

Neji chuckled "someone is feeling a little frisky this morning, eh?" looking back and tapping his finger to the tip of Sasuke's nose.

Sasuke turned Neji towards him, placing his arms around the slender man's waist- his hands perched on the nape of his ass. "Fortunately, I've been blessed with the best looking man in Konoha for a husband. How can I not keep my hands off?" he nipped at the bottom of Neji's lip.

"Hmm…" Neji thought as his eager husband's lips moved to his neck, sucking and nipping at the sensitive flesh. "Mmm, I guess that makes sense" he reveled in the sensation and let out a small moan feeling Sasuke once again squeeze his perfect ass. "Wh-mmm, what do you want to do today?"

"You" Sasuke responded, not lifting his head up from the crook of Neji's neck. He placed his hands behind Neji's thighs, gently lifting him up, placing him on the counter and resting the long limbs around his waist. He removed the tie that held Neji's long tendrils back, letting it sprawl around them like a waterfall of chocolate. "You look so fucking sexy with your hair down" he whispered sultrily against the abused flesh. Neji threw his head back, his hands pressed atop the counter to hold himself up. Sasuke drug his tongue up along Neji's neck, a light trace of saliva running over his chin as Sasuke's luscious lips found purchase upon his husband's.

As he kissed his raven haired man, the scent of the coffee he was brewing in the pot for Sasuke next to them filled his nose. With an inhale, Neji felt the choked feeling come into his throat again. _Shit, not now!_ he thought to himself not wanting to break the encounter with Sasuke. The feeling in his throat was becoming awful as he tried to choke it back down. Unsure if he was able to hold back any longer, Neji abruptly broke the kiss, leaving a confused Sasuke in front of him. As his face began to pale and his cheeks began to swell with his own breath, a concerned eyebrow rose as Sasuke looked at his husband. "Neji…is something wrong?"

Neji, still sitting on the counter with his legs around his husband's waist, shook his head, placing a hand over his tightly closed mouth.

"Neji…you don't look too good."

Neji continued to shake his head in protest, but the vicious uprising in his throat could no longer be held back. His eyes widened as he released his legs from Sasuke's waist, hurriedly hopping off of the counter and rushing toward the bathroom leaving an alarmed Sasuke behind, "what the hell was that?"

xxxx

A troubled Sasuke stood outside the bathroom door as he heard his husband vomiting. He knocked "Neji, what the hell is going on?" the worry evident in his voice.

"I'm fine" Neji called from the other side, "I'm just a little qu-quee-" and he was choking up vomit again.

"Do you want me to come in?" Sasuke asked.

"No, no, I'm fi-fin-" and then again.

Knowing how stubborn Neji could be, Sasuke pressed forward into the bathroom anyway. Seeing his love clinging to the toilet for comfort, he kneeled down, running his fingers through lush brunette locks.

"How long have you been throwing up?"

"The past two weeks or so" Neji recalled.

"What the fuck! Two weeks?! Why didn't you tell me?!" Sasuke turned his frail looking spouse towards him, placing a hand behind his love's neck for support.

"I haven't had any other symptoms. I thought it was the coffee, like maybe I'm beginning to have a bad reaction or something to it. I didn't think to-to-t-" Neji pushed himself away from Sasuke to, once again, hurl into object he felt was becoming his new best friend.

Sasuke had a very irritated look on his face as Neji continued to vomit. "Are you mad at me?" a pathetic brunette looked up, blotting the forced tears from his choking with his sleeve.

Seeing his husband in such an unfortunate position, Sasuke shook his head no as he reached in his pocket for his phone. Dialing a number, he placed the phone to his ear. "Hello? This is Sasuke Uchiha. I need to make an appointment" there was a pause. "Neji Uchiha." Another pause. "Okay, thank you." Turning to Neji, he grabbed his hand and pulled him to his feet. "Come on."

"Where are we going?" Neji asked, wiping his face with a warm towel.

"You're going to the doctor." He paused "and I'm not taking no for an answer."

xxxx

Neji sat on the cold, paper covered examination table across from Sasuke. "Sasssuke, I swear I'm fine" he whined, hoping his unwavering husband would budge and take him back home.

"You're seeing the doctor- end of discussion" Sasuke replied as he flipped the pages in an out dated magazine he was reading. "Damn, you would think with how upscale this doctor's office is, they'd have some more recent magazines."

"Well you wouldn't have to be disappointed with said out dated magazines if you would just take me home" Neji grumbled under his breath.

"What was that?" Sasuke asked, looking over the top of his magazine at his annoyed brunette.

A fake smile plastering his face, "I didn't say anything" Neji replied gleefully.

"...Right."

"May I come in?" Dr. Hatake knocked, slowly opening the door. "Hello, Mr. Uchiha and...Mr. Uchiha. How are you both doing today?"

"We're doing well" Sasuke replied, "well… one of us is" receiving a sideways glare from his husband across the room. He grinned at him mockingly, puckering his lips. Neji rolled his eyes in detest.

"Okay, so it says here you've been experiencing some vomiting for the past two weeks, I see" Kakashi read from Neji's medical chart. "Have you had any other issues?"

"Um, I have been more noticeably tired, but I chalked that up to long work shifts" Neji answered.

"And he's been irritable" Sasuke added, not looking up. "I don't know if it's from the constant vomiting he told me nothing about until today or because he's losing his cool" he added in sarcastically.

_Ohhh, he is going to get it_ Neji thought to himself as he continued to glare at his smiling husband, still reading his out dated magazine.

"When have to been experiencing said vomitting?" Kakashi inquired.

"In the mornings, usually when I was making coffee."

"Did you ever drink the coffee?" Kakashi took notes as he received his answers.

"I never got the chance to. The smell would always churn my stomach."

"So it wasn't from ingestion. What else…what was the color and texture?"

"Mostly clear, kind of mucusy, and a hint of pale yellow." Sasuke winced as the sight of his husband earlier came back to his mind. It looked rather painful the way he was straining to get that stuff up.

"Mhm. Alright, let's have a look see." Placing the medical chart on the counter, Dr. Hatake took out his stethoscope; placing the cold piece of metal to Neji's bare chest under his shirt, he asked him to take a deep breath and exhale. He asked Neji to do so four more times. "No abnormal breathing." He then placed his stethoscope around his neck, and began to feel Neji's neck. "No swollen glands." He pulled a small pen flashlight from his white jacket and checked Neji's ears, nose, eyes, and throat. "Nothing abnormal there. Could you lie back please?" Neji did as told, and Kakashi proceeded to feel around his abdomen. "Nothing wrong her- oh?"

"Oh?" Neji looked at Dr. Hatake as well as Sasuke, who finally looked up from his magazine.

Kakashi continued to press on Neji's abdomen, an intrigued look becoming apparent on his face. When he removed his hands, he signaled Neji that he could sit up. "Please excuse me for a moment." He walked across the room and exited the door.

"What was that about?" Sasuke asked confused, looking at the door Dr. Hatake had just walked out of.

"That felt odd" Neji came out with, holding his stomach.

"What did?" his gaze reverted from the door to his husband.

"Him pressing on my stomach like that, especially in this spot" Neji rubbed the tender area with a look of worry on his face.

Sasuke's eyebrow rose with apprehension. "Does it hurt?" He asked softly, placing the long forgotten magazine in his lap.

"No, it just feels...like a lump" Neji fumbled, searching for the right words. "Sasuke...something really is wrong with me, huh?"

Sensing the fear in his lover's tone, Sasuke walked over to his worrisome husband, cradling his head as he brought him to his chest. "I'm sure you're fine, babe. I don't think he would have left so calmly if it was anything too serious."

"Maybe he didn't want to scare us" Neji thought aloud, holding on to Sasuke's waist as he listened to the soothing thump of his heart beating.

There was another knock at the door, and Dr. Hatake was walking back in the room; he had a blonde, spiked ponytail haired woman with him this time. "This is my assistant, Temari. I'll be consulting with her for the rest of your visit." Neji and Sasuke both smiled at the woman warmly. "Could you lie back down again, please?"

Sasuke released Neji, stepping back and allowing Dr. Hatake and Temari to take his spot as Neji laid back. Kakashi began to press on Neji's abdomen once again; Neji flinched in discomfort of the spot he told Sasuke about a few minutes ago being touched. "Here, feel here" Kakashi told Temari. She moved forward; her small, delicate hands pressed in the same spot, but it was much more comforting for Neji.

"It seems that might be right" Temari affirmed with Kakashi. She pulled a stethoscope from her pocket and placed the cold metal head, once again, to his abdomen. She listened carefully, leaving the cold material on his abdomen for a few seconds. "Yep, that's it" she confirmed.

"Um, what the hell is going on?" an impatient Sasuke spoke up.

Kakashi signaled Neji to sit up once again. "It appears that Mr. Uchiha, Uchiha being you, Neji, is carrying."

Sasuke's eyes shifted, his impatience growing. "Carrying what exactly?" he asked, crossing his arms.

"Mhm..."Kakashi sighed. "Mr. Uchiha is with child."

A shocked Neji sat in the background, his eyes widening in confusion; his heart's pace began picking up.

"What?!" Sasuke asked loudly. "What do you mean with child?!"

Dr. Hatake closed his eyes and let out a deep exhale; he hated this part of his job. "Mr. Uchiha is approximately 6 weeks along. If you do the hippidy doo dah, Mr. Uchiha…Uchiha being you Sasuke, you conceive children" he said apathetically.

"But how?" Neji finally found the voice to speak before his aggravated husband could rip the silver haired male a new one for his smart ass comment. "I mean I am a male."

"ABS- Androgynistic Bodily Syndrome. Some people, particularly males, are born with this syndrome" Temari began to explain. "Your estrogen levels are much higher than normal males, causing you to have common experiences of a woman."

"This would be the explanation for your flawlessly smooth, creamy skin, your slender figure, your long brunette locks, and that perfectly shaped as-"

"WHAT Dr. Hatake means to say" Temari interrupted Kakashi from his inappropriate last statement, "is it has a large explanation for the more feminine qualities you do possess as opposed to most males."

"Are you trying to tell me I'm like a he/she or something?" Neji asked angrily, his impatience now growing.

"No, no!" Temari assured him. "You were not born with a uterus, or a vaginal opening, or ovaries, and you do not have breast as I do. I'm also pretty sure that you, God forbid, don't even experience monthly cycles like women. Your body has just simply developed differently than that of an average male like your husband."

"How did he get pregnant?" he shot a glare towards Kakashi as means for him to keep his sarcastic ass mouth shut. "I mean with no ovaries, he doesn't have eggs, correct? And how is he supposed to carry a baby with no uterus?" Sasuke asked concerned.

Temari turned to him. "Neji has a second type of sperm that can act as eggs; they carry a unique XXY chromosome, as opposed to the common XY. These sperm are released a lot less frequently than normal sperm- the statistics showing a small twenty five percent. Along with these special sperm, Neji has also developed an organ, an artificial womb we call it, placed behind his bladder that has the same function of a uterus allowing him to carry the child. It will be like a natural pregnancy, except due to his long torso and regular testosterone levels, his stomach will not protrude as drastically as a pregnant woman's would, but you will be able to tell he is with child, and he will most likely not experience the same symptoms like cramping, swollen breasts, and genital bleeding. Discomfort, mild cravings, food aversions, and irritability are to be expected, however."

"And what about the delivery process? How will he go through that?"

"Delivery is a different story" Kakashi continued. "Mr. Uchiha will have to, for sure, undergo a caesarean for the birth of the child. It will be a long recovery time, and you will probably experience more pain than a woman would. And because this is such a rare case, we are unsure how your body will respond to the surgery, as well as healing; you will be considered very high risk" he added.

"High risk meaning?" Sasuke inquired with apprehension.

"There is a possibility you may have complications with the pregnancy resulting in loss of the baby" Neji's breath hitched at Dr. Hatake's words, "or you may lose your life after the surgery, chancing the baby may survive." Both Sasuke and Neji's heart sank at the latter part of the answer. "I would seriously consider the pros and cons as you decide whether or not you would like to go through with the pregnancy."

"We'll give you two a few minutes" Temari allowed, her and Dr. Hatake leaving the two in privacy.

Sasuke turned to his pale looking husband. A low chuckle escaped from his lips as he asked "you okay over there, babe?"

"I'm...I'm a woman" Neji stuttered, his eyes off into the distance; his body was frozen.

Sasuke then laughed, walking to his love. "You are not a woman" he said, placing a chaste kiss to his forehead. "You are a special breed of male; no wonder I felt lucky dating you all these years."

"I'm going to be a pregnant male and there is a possibility I might lose my life" Neji said, still staring off into the distance. "What the hell is my life …now, anyways?"

Becoming aggravated, Sasuke flicked Neji's shoulder harshly, snapping him out of his daze. "Ow! What the fu- what the hell, Sasuke?!" he growled.

"Will you shut up, please? You're getting what you wanted, right? You're having the pleasure of giving us a child; we're getting a family, and it's all thank to you and your special body- the body that I love to make love to on a regular basis" Sasuke replied.

"Sasuke, I could LOSE my life" Neji said, the anxiety rising in his voice.

"Neji..." Sasuke paused, taking his love's hand into his own as he gazed at him lovingly, "we don't know that for sure. Women have high risk pregnancies all the time and come out fine."

"But Sasuke, I'm not a woman" Neji could feel his nerves becoming unsettled as his voice came out shaky. "This…this isn't a normal case, and you know that. Why are you trying to ignore it?"

"I'm not going to dwell on the unknowns, Neji" Sasuke's voice came out strong. "I'm not going to sit here and psych myself out thinking my husband is going to die. You don't have to worry; I'm going to be there with you, every step of the way. I'll make sure you're well taken care of. If you're feeling like something is wrong, I have the doctor on speed dial and will drop everything to get you to him. Whatever you need or want just ask."

"Sasuke…" he breathed softly, comfort soothing his frazzled nerves as his husband spoke to him.

"You make me extremely happy, and have made me even more merrier with this news" he paused, sliding his finger down his beautiful husband's face. "I would gladly do anything for you. I know we can get through this- our baby being here with both of us in the end."

As Neji watched his husband give a soft smile, he felt completely better about the situation. He felt warm on the inside; his heart overflowing with happiness knowing he could fulfill giving his husband what they both wanted- a family of their own.

Xxxx

A good fifteen minutes passed when Dr. Hatake and Temari walked back into the room. "Do we have an answer?" Temari asked the couple.

Looking at his Sasuke for confirmation, confidently Neji answered "we're going to go through with it" hugging his husband's waist.

"Wonderful!" Temari's smile radiated upon her face. "You two don't understand how lucky you truly are; this is such a rarity that when it comes along, it should be accepted with open minds immediately. I am so happy you all have made this decision." She added in "I will be your nurse assistant, or midwife, for your pregnancy. Dr. Hatake will be your delivering doctor when the time comes. We are going to bring a healthy baby into the world!" Sasuke and Neji both chuckled as Temari spoke with such a gleeful tone.

Kakashi chimed in "we'll get you in the system today and set up your appointments. I just wanted to personally say congratulations to you both. You are going to have a beautiful baby…especially seeing as you two are very sex-"

"MR. HATAKE!" Temari shouted turning towards her mentor, who was about to make another inappropriate comment. She was fuming.

"Sorry, sorry..." Kakashi threw his hands up in a truce. "Congratulations, again. We look forward to seeing you both soon."

As Temari and Kakashi walked through the doors again, Sasuke turned towards his husband. He placed a hand on his stomach, rubbing gently, causing a bright blush to burn into Neji's cheeks. "We're having a baby" he said happily smiling as he continued to rub Neji's belly.

"Yeah" Neji said looking down, a small smile gracing his face, "we're having a baby."

TBC.

* * *

**Please review! I would love feedback. I look forward to writing the next few chapters. :]**


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1.

xxx

_Hello there. It's me, the pregnant man here. Yeah, that still isn't registering in my head even though I'm past 12 weeks already. Time is really flying by with this pregnancy thing. I finally stopped throwing up so goddamn much! Hinata says that's normal once you get out the first trimester. I was relieved. Oh, I've seemed to get some energy back as well. I'm all over the place…and all over Sasuke, hehehe. I don't know, but this pregnancy thing is also making me feel like a bitch in heat. (Ironic, because I basically look like a female, AND I'm pregnant, right?) Anyways, he just looks so fucking sexy to me these days. Whoa! That came out wrong; I mean, he has always been sexy, but these last few weeks he has been VERY sexy, like smoking sexy, like HOT FIRE sexy. Just thinking about him is making me swell. _

_-pause-_

_Oh my gosh, should I feel guilty talking like this while I'm carrying a child? Can the baby hear me? How is he/she going to think of me as a father if they ever see this?! Oh no…I have to turn this off. _

_Pregnant man signing out!_

Xxxx

Neji lay there, in the middle of the living room floor, staring towards the ceiling. His eyes were following the whirling blades of the white ceiling fan above. His hands were placed on his stomach- a small bump present where his growing child developed. His chocolate tendrils lay spread flat on the plush carpeted floor above his head. A small sigh escaped his lips as he laid there in solitude.

"What are you doing?" Neji heard a voice approach him- a light chuckle followed behind.

"I'm just thinking" he replied, still staring at the ceiling fan.

"On the floor?" the voice spoke once again.

"Yeah…" Neji trailed off; he wasn't sure what he was doing on the floor or what he was even thinking about. He chalked it up to just feeling right at the moment. _Stupid pregnancy hormones_ he cursed silently.

Sasuke lift an eyebrow as a small smirk came upon his face, sitting on the couch as he continued to look at his husband. "Are you going to lie here all day?" he asked the brunette.

"I'm not planning on it" Neji's gaze averted from the ceiling fan to just the ceiling; the twirling of the blades was making him dizzy.

Sasuke slipped off the couch onto the floor, lying next to his pregnant husband. Looking up at the ceiling along with Neji, Sasuke asked "what's on your mind, babe?"

"I still can't believe I'm pregnant, really" he began to rub his belly. "We're going to be fathers."

"Yeah" Sasuke smirked, "it is pretty awesome."

Looking away from the ceiling to give Sasuke a sideways glare, Neji responded "you're always so cool about things. I mean, there is so much that could go wrong here."

Sasuke turned his head towards Neji with a small smile on his face, "and you always worry too much about things. You need to relax, babe. Take the edge off a little."

As Sasuke turned his head back to the ceiling closing his eyes, Neji abruptly sat up and climbed on top of Sasuke, sitting with his hips atop the other mans. He licked his own lips seductively, biting gently on the bottom one as Sasuke's hands found purchase on his beautiful brunette's hips. "You want me to take the edge off, huh?" Neji asked, beginning to grind into Sasuke's groin, the rocking motion causing his raven's member to swell in his pants.

"Mmm" Sasuke let out a low groan, "why-mmm, why are you doing this?"

"Because I want you," Neji leaned forward, licking the outer part of Sasuke's ear. "These damn hormones are driving me insane."

"You- damn, you know I have to go to work in an hour, right?"

"That's more than enough time" Neji assured as he began to grind down harder. He reached a hand down Sasuke's sweats, stroking the thick, soft hair growing along the base of the hardened member. He licked at Sasuke's neck- the raven haired man's hand slipping to an ass cheek, giving it a light tap. Neji grasped the throbbing member in his hand, moving up and down in a firm yet gentle motion- the raven haired man's body was writhing underneath him as low moans escaped his parted lips. "You have just been looking too damn sexy these past few weeks" Neji taunted, quickening his pace just a little. "Walking around shirtless showing off those chiseled abs…having your pants hanging of your hips showing that damn defined "V" cut," Sasuke's brow sweat as Neji kept toying with his body, "and that hair of yours- those shoulder length, ebony tendrils swaying in front of that porcelain, pale face, making me notice those sexy plump lips and those dark, obsidian eyes I always fall in to. How could I not want you?"

"Ne-"Sasuke was panting heavily feeling his orgasm come on as Neji suddenly released his member. "Wha-why the hell did you stop?!" frustration was apparent in his voice.

Neji stood up, standing over Sasuke as he unloosened the drawstring of his sweat pants. "I'm not letting you cum unless it's inside me." With the sweat pants falling to the floor, he once again straddled his husband, that ass Sasuke loved so much now rubbing against the impatiently throbbing erection in his pants which Neji then pulled down. Neji took two of his fingers into his mouth, whirling his tongue around them playfully, teasing his lusting husband. Placing them against his entrance, he forced both fingers into himself letting out a breathy moan; he slid his fingers in and out, scissoring in between to prepare his own self for his love's swollen cock. "Nnnnh," he moaned, striking his prostate in the midst of his pleasuring himself.

Sasuke was growing impatient, the need for release coiling in his stomach watching Neji finger himself for him. "I want you" Sasuke removed Neji's fingers, placed his hand on Neji's hips and held him up, "right fucking now." When Neji was guided back down by those masculine hands that held him, Sasuke slammed his pulsing cock into the tight heat. Neji cried out at the feeling of his love filling him. Sasuke kept a firm hand on the brunette's hips, keeping him grounded as he began to pound into the slender man on top of him. "Oh, God…I love when you're on top of me" Sasuke growled as his brunette love moaned heavily at the sensation.

"Nnnn- mmm-more, Sasuke" Neji begged.

"Damn" a groan escaped from Sasuke as he picked up his pace, sliding graciously in and out of Neji's tight ass, "you feel so fucking good."

Neji threw his head back, his eyes closed, his hair flowing behind him as the pleasure began to surge throughout his body. "Shu-shut up and just fuck me please" he commanded his raven husband, "I've needed this for too damn long."

Sasuke removed one hand from Neji's hips to wrap it around his partner's neglected erection. Pumping in rhythm with his thrust, Sasuke was on the brink of his climax as Neji's entrance began to clench around him. Neji was crying out in pleasure, mumbling Sasuke's name in between shrieks. "Sasu- I'm gonna-"

With one final pump, Neji bust onto his husband's stomach, his panting still heavy, riding out his climax as Sasuke continued thrusting into him for his own release. "Fuhhh-," Sasuke finished, filling his brunette lover with his seed.

Neji continued to pant, slumping over to kiss Sasuke's luscious lips lazily. "Thank you" he added breathily before standing up, his love's seed oozing from his swollen entrance. Stretching his tense limbs, Neji looked over to the clock on the wall. "Um…I think you're late for work."

Looking at the clock, his pants growing lighter, the time was 10:45am- he was already 15 minutes late needing a shower and to iron his clothes he still hadn't picked out yet. _Shit…._

Xxxx

Sasuke rushed into the doors of his office hoping he went unnoticed. Walking towards his desk, he placed his jacket on the back of his chair and dropped his keys in the drawer. He looked at the abundant stack of papers on his desk, and secretly cursed his boss to hell and back for giving him that promotion. He had never had to deal with this much filing in his life, especially not the morning he had.

"Knock knock" a voice called from the doorway as Sasuke sat himself in his desk chair. "Can I come in?"

"Yeah" Sasuke responded not looking up as he settled into his desk.

Observing his co-worker and the frazzled air about him, the voice called, "hm, judging by the fact that your hair is still wet, your shirt is slightly wrinkled, and your tie isn't…well tied, I'd say someone had a good round of morning sex making him super late for work."

Sasuke smirked as the guest continued towards him, his eyes focused on one of the documents from the pile. "What's up, Shikamaru?"

"Nothing, nothing" Shikamaru stated as he walked towards the chair in front of Sasuke's desk usually for clients. He propped his feet up on the chestnut colored desk, making himself comfortable. "What's up with you? I heard someone is going to be a father soon…"

"How did you-"Sasuke's eyebrow rose in question, looking up from the document.

A light chuckle escaped from Shikamaru, "don't worry, no one here knows. Your midwife? Yeah, she's my girlfriend; she has been for the past two years." He pulled his cell phone from his pocket.

"Wow, what a small world. How come you've never told me about her?"

"Eh, we've been keeping it on the low. We really didn't want to put a title on it" he stated, his eyes on his phone as he played solitaire. "With titles come expectations and I just wasn't in the mood for that at the time, you know?"

"Hn, sounds just like you" Sasuke scoffed. "She told you about Neji?"

"Well, by law, she's not allowed to enclose names of her patients, but she did tell me she had a 'special case' she was tending to. Her description of the person really did relate to one person in particular" he pointed to the picture of Sasuke and Neji in front of the Eifel Tower on Sasuke's desk. It had been Neji's 23rd birthday surprise from Sasuke.

Sasuke looked at the picture, smiling to himself remembering how happy Neji had been, jumping into his arms and covering his face with chaste kisses when he gave him the plane tickets. "Or maybe you're just that much of a genius to figure it out on your own" Sasuke said to his long time co-worker.

Shikamaru looked up from his phone, a smirk gracing his usually stoic face. "With how upbeat you've been lately, despite all the work you've been stuck with," he pointed to the stack of papers on Sasuke's desk, "and how you've been asking me to help you out so you could 'leave and take care of Neji', of course the signs would point to you two."

"Damn, you read me like a book; it's rather scary" Sasuke said sarcastically.

Shikamaru let out a hearty laugh. "I mean, we are best friends. You should be flattered I pay attention to your ass, anyways."

"If I didn't know any better, I would think you're flirting with me, Shika" Sasuke's voice was coy.

"Well I'm glad you know better" Shikamaru returned to his solitaire game. "Me being gay and dealing with your stoic one minute, cheery the next ass?" He shook his head, "what a drag."

"Oh come on, I'm not that bad" Sasuke defended himself.

"You're right," Shikamaru looked up again, this time scanning Sasuke's blandly colored office room, "this place would make anybody lose their fucking mind."

Sasuke chuckled, leaning back in his chair and placing his hands behind his head. "Say, you want to go out this weekend? It's the least I can do to thank you for your help around here these last few weeks."

Taking his feet off the desk and finishing his game in solitaire, Shikamaru stood up from the chair- stretching his stiff limbs and letting a drawn out yawn escape. "Yeah, sure" he replied, walking sluggishly out of the room, "but don't go trying to get in my drawls…that's for Temari."

Sasuke shook his head, watching as his lazy friend trudged slowly to his own office down the hall. Their friendship had always been an amusing one. Shikamaru was Sasuke's mentor when he first came into the office four years ago; he always talked about what a drag this was and how fed up he was with that, but when Sasuke asked why he had been here for six years, he replied with he was too lazy to find somewhere else. These past few weeks of Sasuke asking him to cover shifts for him or stay later than he would normally have to, even though he had the same apathetic face he always wore, he didn't complain. He was always there for support or comfort, and if you really needed it, he was there to whoop someone's ass if they fucked with you. Yeah, that lazy ass Shikamaru- he really was a good friend.

Xxxx

"Thanks for coming to my appointment with me, Hinata" Neji spoke to his pale lavender eyed cousin as they walked through the doors of the doctor's office.

"N-no, problem, Neji. I remember how anxious I was coming by myself when I was pregnant with Hiro" she looked to the blonde haired, blue eyed little boy she held in her arms as he slept. He was a spitting image of his father. "I-I'm glad I could accompany you."

Neji smiled at his timid cousin, walking over the welcome desk of the office to sign in. He walked back to Hinata who secured a spot on a nearby couch in the lounge area. Neji sat down next to her, admiring her little Hiro as he laid on his mother's shoulder- a small string of drool escaping from the corner his mouth open mouth. Neji inwardly chuckled. "Looks like someone is having a good nap."

"Y-yeah, you'll be grateful for those times." Hinata chuckled feeling the sleeve of her shirt moisten from her little one's slob. "He was running around all day before I came to pick you up- climbing up on the living room table, sticking crayons in his nose, and lunch time? There was a mess of noodles on the floor that he threw over his high chair." She shook her head, "the joys of having children."

"I find myself wondering what our baby is going to be like…" Neji trailed off, rubbing his stomach. "Will they be business-like and smart like Sasuke, or artistic and intelligent like myself? Whose eye will they have? Will they have brown or black hair, long or short- it's all so much to think about."

"Y-you seem really excited. You're really glowing," Hinata smiled at her cousin.

"I am…even though there's that problem-"

"Neji, don't think about that" Hinata placed her soft, delicate hand over her cousin's small baby bump. "You and the baby are going to be fine. You're almost half way there!" a touch of cheer hinted her tone as she tried to comfort the worried brunette. "The baby is going to be very healthy and you and Sasuke are going to be happy. You just watch."

"Neji Uchiha" the nurse assistant called from the door. Neji and Hinata, holding Hiro, walked towards the nurse. "How are you doing today, dear?" the nurse asked Neji.

"I'm well, thank you."

She led Neji back to the lab, taking his blood pressure and pricking his finger to check his hemoglobin levels. "Everything looks good here; I'll show you to the examination room."

The nurse picked up Neji's chart and began walking, signaling Neji and Hinata to follow. "Okay, just have a seat up here, and the doctor will be right in you." As the nurse left the room, Neji looked to the computer next to him- a confused expression coming upon his face.

Hinata let out a soft gasp, catching Neji's attention. "I-I didn't know you were getting an ultrasound today!"

Neji's eyes widened. "I-I didn't know that either."

"Oh no, Sa-sasuke is going to be really upset he missed this, isn't he?"

Neji's lips slanted thinking of his husband's reaction when he finds out about missing the appointment. "I guess they'll be others?"

"Yeah" Hinata confirmed. "You'll most likely have another one, and make sure he's at that one! Today, the babies not going to be as big or developed, so maybe he won't feel too bad."

"I hope not."

A knock at the door and in came the spiky blonde haired nurse. "Hi there! How's my favorite patient doing?" Temari asked with a big smile on her face.

"I'm doing okay" Neji was really bummed Sasuke wasn't there.

"And how are you ma'am?" Temari asked Hinata.

"Oh, I-I'm well, thank you" Hinata responded shyly.

"Wonderful" Temari pulled a pen from her jacket pocket and held Neji's chart in her hand. "Okay so we're at 16 weeks. I assume the vomiting has seized?" Neji nodded in conformation. "Okay…and you've gotten your energy back?" Another nod. "Beautiful, and are you feeling any fetal movement?" Judging by the worried look on Neji's face, Temari quickly added "it's okay! It's okay!" making sure not to upset her patient. "It's still early. You should be feeling movements within the next few weeks. Are you sleeping well still? Any discomfort or tightening in your stomach?"

Neji shook his head no in response. "I haven't been uncomfortable, and I have been sleeping well."

"Good, good!" Temari said. "If you were to have any type of tightening in your stomach, whether light or painful, please come in. Chances are it will be a contraction, and that's a pregnancy symptom you should not be experiencing and action will need to be taken immediately" she emphasized. "We wouldn't want to risk anything happening to you or the baby."

Neji hung his head, the uncertainty of labor and delivery looming over his head even though it was still a ways away. He looked up, his gaze meeting Hinata's as she gave him a look of sympathy. "It's going to be alright" she mouthed to him, a weak smile formed with his lips.

"Have you been sexually active lately?"

Neji's breath hitched as a deep blushed burned into his cheeks. _Oh, shit_ he thought to himself, _was I not supposed to be doing that? Oh man, I messed up…but it's completely not my fault! These stupid hormones made me do it!_

Temari brought her small hand to her lips, a low chuckle seeping through them. "Neji, it's okay if you have been. Elevated levels of hormones cause it; it's perfectly normal. I just wanted to make sure so we can properly test you. I have no doubt in my mind that you have only been with Sasuke and both of you are clean, but it is still standard procedure just to be safe." Neji nodded his head, confirming while not looking at Temari. The blush was too embarrassing for him to show off.

"Okay, I need to lie down and pull you shirt up a little" Temari told Neji, and he did so. After turning the monitor on next to him and walking to switch the lights off, Temari sat on the stool next to Neji. "We're going to do an ultrasound today to check the baby's growth. You don't have to do anything but relax." She took a warm bottle of gel, squeezing some onto Neji's small baby bump and placed the probe on top.

Neji's heart fluttered at the images that came onto screen. "Th-that's…"

"Yep, that's your baby" Temari confirmed.

"Neji, it's so beautiful" Hinata swooned.

"But you can't even make out who he/she looks like," Neji said confused.

"I know…but the fact that there is a life inside you is still beautiful in itself."

Neji's eyes lit up even in the dark room at his cousin's kind words. "Thank you, Hinata."

"You see here is the head, here is an arm, and here is a leg" Temari pointed out on the monitor of the small body growing inside Neji. "We have two of everything developing, so that's good. And see here? That's its' heart. The heart's rate, even though we can't here is, is at good pace and strong. So far, everything is looking wonderful. I see no sign for concern."

Neji and Hinata watched in awe as the little person growing inside of him flipped upside down and moved side to side; the baby was so active in his stomach. "With how much it's moving, why can't I feel it?"

"The baby isn't big enough just yet, but like I said earlier- don't worry; you'll be feeling it very soon." Temari answered, switching the lights back on. "I'm going to print pictures of different angles for you to show Sasuke. I know he'll be delighted to see how his new edition is growing." Handing Neji the print outs, Temari wrote a few notes on Neji's chart and walked towards the door. "I'm looking forward to seeing you next time. If you have any questions or concerns, you have my number. It was nice meeting you, too, Hinata," she smiled at the lavender eyed raven. "You all have a wonderful day."

"Thank you so much, Temari" Neji responded, looking at his little one's new pictures with Hinata. "Sasuke is going to love this…at least, I sure hope so. He won't be too mad, right?" He looked at Hinata worried, who gave him a comforting hug. "Oh, man…I hope he won't be mad."

Xxxx

Smashing the glass down on the table and letting out an obnoxious belch, the silly blonde haired, blue eyed male slumped back in his seat. "Man, it's been ages since I got to go out with my guys and drink till my heart's content" a goofy smile graced his face.

"You better not get too sloppy, Naruto. You know how Hinata likes to get on you about that."

His goofy smile turned into a frown as he scrunched his eyebrows at his raven haired friend. "Ah, come on Sasuke, don't be a fucking buzz kill. I'm a pro at this- the misses won't even be able to tell I've been drinking as much."

"If you say so, chump" Sasuke responded, taking a sip from his half empty glass of Hennessy.

"Anyways, what about Neji? Isn't he going to get on your case about being out drinking as well?" Naruto asked- his eyebrows now rose in question.

"I know how to handle my liquor unlike you, Mr. I like to stagger in my house, bump into everything in sight, and break a very expensive heirloom that's been in my wife's family for centuries" Sasuke snapped back. "I know how to keep my composure."

"You shut the hell up!" Naruto fumed at his best friend. "That was a mistake, besides YOU were the one who got me that fucking drunk in the first place! And if I do recall correctly" he continued, "Neji got on you ten times harder for playing dodge ball with one of his sculptures during college; you remember? The one you were trying to bomb me with that ended up costing him thirty percent of his grade that semester?" Sasuke glared at the blonde. "How did it feel paying for his tuition after he lost his scholarship because of you, jackass? I know it hurt like a bitch" Naruto had a taunting smirk plastered on his face.

"Man, you all and your relationships are pretty funny" Shikamaru butted in, coolly drinking his beer. "Those two have you on a ball and chain."

"As if!" Naruto tried to defend himself.

"Nah," Sasuke answered calmly, sucking on an ice cube he fished out of his glass. "Naruto and I just did some stupid shit in college, living the stereotypical college life. That time with Neji really almost cost us our relationship; he felt like I didn't take him and his art work seriously." He swirled the rest of his drink in the glass. "Naruto is right- paying his tuition did hurt like a bitch, but losing Neji would have been ten times worse. That was one of the times I was like 'thank you God I'm rich', you know, being that I really don't pay attention to it much."

"I can respect that, but what about you Naruto? What's your excuse?" Shikamaru directed at the reddened blonde.

"Naruto's just a fucking idiot" Sasuke interrupted, smirking at the raging blonde in front of him.

"You're such an ass!"

"And you love me for it- have since high school, and always will" Sasuke gave a mocking grin.

Naruto just sat back in his chair, folding his arms across his chest, and looking to the television screen ahead of him with the hockey game on.

"What about you, Shika?" Sasuke turned to his aloof co-worker, "you plan on asking Temari to marry you?"

Shikamaru placed a hand behind the back of his neck, "I…don't know if I want to do that just yet."

Sasuke's eyebrow rose in question, "well why the hell not? You're twenty six years old, been seeing this woman for the past two years- what's wrong with it? You don't like her like that?"

"Of course I do," Shikamaru answered. "I just don't know if I'm ready for that commitment, even with me having the ring and all in my drawer at home."

"Wait a minute, you already have a rin-"

"Yes" he interrupted, "yes, I do have the ring. I know I'm usually stoic and lazy, but I do have other feelings I act upon, too, man." He let out a nervous chuckle. "Temari is the best woman I've ever been with in my life. I truly do see having a long term future with her- marriage, kids, and all, but…" he trailed off, taking a sip of beer, "I guess I'm worried she's going to reject me because of my demeanor. I mean, I wouldn't even want to be with someone like me for the rest of my life, and that's saying something."

Sasuke shook his head with a smirk on his face, finishing off the rest of his drink. "Shikamaru, you amaze me. Obviously the woman sees something in you worth staying with if she's been with you this long and you haven't changed." He sat his glass on the table, leaning back in his chair and placing both arms behind his head. "Just ask her; the way she's been tending to Neji? She seems like a really special person to have. You don't want to let that get away because of your…ahem, laziness."

Shikamaru finished his beer, setting the bottle on the table, also leaning back in his chair. "Yeah, you're right. I guess now I just have to come up with how to ask her."

"Ask who what?" an out of the loop Naruto chimed in, his attention finally off the game.

"Temari" Sasuke answered.

"Who the hell is Temari?"

Shikamaru let out a heavy sigh. "My girlfriend, Naruto, and Neji's midwife."

"Neji's midwife- NEJI'S PREGNANT?!" the blonde's eyes shot wide open as he directed his gaze to the raven haired man sitting next to him.

"Oh my gosh," Sasuke closed his eyes, becoming frustrated with his idiot of a friend, "YES, Neji is pregnant."

Naruto's hands flew into the air; he waved them around frantically as his slow mind tried to put the pieces together. "He's not a woman! How can he get pregnant? Is he like a tranny or something?!"

"First of all, can you lower your voice? You causing a scene," an impatient Sasuke placed a hand over his obnoxiously loud, blonde friend's mouth tried to speak calmly to his friend to diffuse the attention they were receiving. "Second of all, he has a type of syndrome he was born with that allows him to conceive and carry children."

With the clammy hand removed from his mouth, Naruto's lips had formed a perfect 'O'. "Okay, okay, I see. How are he and the baby? How far along is he? I remember when Hinata was pregnant; I saw sides of that woman I didn't even know existed." He shuddered at the thought of his mild, meek, and timid wife being the raging, sex driven animal when she was pregnant. It was…alarming, to say the least.

"He's doing well, the baby is doing well, and he's sixteen weeks in" Sasuke answered. "He had a rough start, but it's gotten a lot better and progressing rather well. It's just like a woman being pregnant."

"That's good" Naruto said giving another one of his goofy grins. "Wait a minute- sixteen weeks? What the fuck Sasuke! Why did you tell me?"

"Naruto, I really didn't tell anyon-"

"Did you know about this Shikamaru?!" the now red again blonde was fuming…again.

"Yeah, I knew" Shikamaru said casually.

"Oh, so this asshole finds out before I do and we've been best friends for how long?!" Naruto directed towards Sasuke whose patience was really wearing thin with his friend. "I knew you liked this bastard more than you like me since you started that stupid jo-"

Sasuke took a fist upside Naruto's thick skull. "His girlfriend is Neji's midwife, you fucking idiot!" All eyes in the bar we back to the loud duo in the corner as Sasuke pulled his fist back to his side. Naruto grabbed his head, letting out muffled groans as a head ache began coming on. This was not a good time to be trashed.

Shikamaru let out another heavy sigh, still leaning back in his seat with a big smile on his face. He was thoroughly amused. "Oh man, I love going out with you two."

With Sasuke, now calmed down, and Naruto, whose head lay on the table throbbing, sitting silently while the gazes diverted away from them again, Sasuke came out "Naruto, we haven't told anyone because Neji could have complications with the pregnancy. He's really worried about it and felt comfortable keeping it between me and him, his doctors, and Shikamaru, because Temari is his midwife. Oh, and Hinata, because Neji confides in her."

"Why couldn't I be included in that?" Naruto said muffled, his face pressed into the bar table.

"Because you have a big mouth" Sasuke answered, "but now that you know, do not tell anyone…ANYONE, you got that?"

Naruto didn't move his face from the table; he gave a thumb up to Sasuke, who sat back in his seat, once again, trying to enjoy the rest of his buzz.

"For some reason, I don't have a good feeling about this" Shikamaru noted as he looked at the two drunk men he accompanied at the table. "Not a good feeling at all…"

**TBC.**

**Please review! The second chapter will probably be coming out by the end of this week. This story has kind of taken over my life, which I'm fine with because I do have A LOT of free time on my hands. Thanks for reading! :]**


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2.

**A/N: Thank you all for those who did review, follow, or favorite. I'm hoping to get more recognition on this story because I have put a lot of thought into everything I've written, and I love the way it's turning out. I hope you all enjoy this chapter as well!**

xxxx

"_Hi there; it's the pregnant man here."_

"_And the pregnant man's husband."_

"_Sasuke's sitting in on this thing with me today. (They smile at each other, and look back to the camera.) Well, I'm at 20 weeks now. That means we're half way there!"_

"_That's a big relief."_

_(Neji chuckles) "How am I feeling? Well, I'm feeling rather good, actually. I am very active; me and Sasuke go walking every other day in our park, I'm always cleaning, and ummm-."_

"_Always jumping on me?" (Sasuke smirks.)_

_(Neji blushes) "Uh, I have no idea what you're talking about."_

_(Sasuke laughs) "Oh, come on babe. That sex drive of yours has gone through the roof. Not that I'm complaining, cause I love hitting this," (He taps Neji's ass.) "and will gladly do so as long as you want me to."_

_(Neji's eyes widen and blush deepens.) "God, I hope our child doesn't see this video."_

"_That sounds really good."_

"_Ummm…what does?"_

"_Our child." (Sasuke smiles at Neji.)_

"_Yeah," (Neji smiles back.) "It really does."_

_(They share a short peck of the lips and Neji turns back to the camera.) "But yeah, back to what I was saying: yeah, this is like the good part of the pregnancy Hinata tells me. Everything is pretty chill. I'm not uncomfortable or irritable."_

"_Hn, you can take that lie back."_

_(Neji shoots a glare at Sasuke.) "What the hell does that mean?!"_

"_Your attitude has been significantly different lately."_

"_IT HAS NOT!"_

"_It really has. You get mad at everything." (Sasuke starts mocking Neji.) "Sasuke, that doesn't go there! Sasuke, you need to put this up! Sasuke, you're not hitting the spot righ-"_

"_I'm going to kick you off here if you don't shut up!"_

"_See? Attitude."_

_(Neji makes a straight face at his husband who is smirking at him and turns to the camera.) "This…" (He points to Sasuke.) "is the reason I've been so moody. He's aggravating- pompous jackass."_

"_And you love every minute of it." (Sasuke nuzzles Neji's cheek.)_

"_Whatever…oh! Tell the camera what you thought about these." (Neji gives him the ultrasound photos.)_

_(Sasuke's smile brightens.) "Ahh, yeah, seeing the little one baking in there. I loved them. I was actually pretty pissed Neji didn't tell me he was having an ultrasound that day-"_

"_I didn't know either!"_

"_I know, babe. It's alright, but it really did warm my heart to see there really is a life we created together. It's just one more thing that makes me love you even more. It's just one more reason why you are very special to me. It's one more reason why I'm glad I forked over the money for your tuition for that year-"_

"_Yeah, cause your ass was seriously dumped at that point."_

_(Sasuke lightly chuckles and rubs the back of his neck.) "Yeah, I know, and if I wouldn't have come up with that solution, I wouldn't be as happy with my life as I am now with you and our unborn child."_

"_Oh Sasuke," (Neji sniffles playfully.) "you're going to make me tear up." _

_(Another chuckle.) "I'm just letting you know how I really feel. I know I play the hard ass most of the time, but I do have feelings, too, you know? And you just happen to be the feather that breaks the camel's back for me to show them. I really don't know what I would do without you."_

"_So you really do worry about-"_

"_No, I don't worry about anything." (He looks back to the photos.) "The baby is growing wonderfully. You're doing wonderful. We're doing wonderful. We have nothing to worry about."_

_(A slight smile comes on Neji's face.) "You know, you really do make dealing with all this a lot easier. You're constantly checking on me even though you have those god awful long shifts. You stay up with me when I can't sleep. Making my meals and making sure things are done so I can stay off my feet? You're an amazing man, Sasuke."_

_(Sasuke looks in Neji's eyes.) "I do it all for you, babe." (They lean in, sharing an escalating passionate kiss. Neji places him arms around Sasuke's neck. Sasuke places his arms around Neji's waist pulling him closer.)_

_(Neji pulls back from the kiss, smirking mischievously at Sasuke.) "I think we should turn this thing of now."_

_(Sasuke licks Neji's bottom lip.) "I think you're right- I got some 'business' to handle."_

"_Ooh, you're such a bad boy."_

"_You make me that way," (Sasuke looks down.) "with your sexy ass."_

_(Neji's smirk grows.) "Yeah," (He turns towards the camera with his arms still around Sasuke's neck.) "pregnant man, signing out!"_

xxxxthe pregnant man'.

"UGH!" Sasuke heard Neji growl as he sat up groggily, wiping the sleep from his eyes.a "I'm seriously going to cut this shit off!"

Sasuke looked around the room to find Neji standing in front of the mirror in the bathroom, his lush brunette locks surrounding his slender frame. "Whaaa-what's wrong?" he asked his frustrated looking husband, a yawn escaping between his lips.

"My hair! It's too fucking long!" Neji struggled to get every strand of hair into his hand for a ponytail. "I'm seriously going to cut it!"

_Neji's hair has gotten pretty long; it's beyond the nape of his ass now_ Sasuke thought, watching his fuming husband now try to wrap the tie around his hair. It was everywhere; some strands were left out, some slipped from his palm, and when he managed to get all of it in the tie, it was awfully crooked. Sasuke chuckled at the scrunched eyebrows Neji's face was sporting; how could someone as beautiful as he look so damn mean?

"Oh? You think this shit is funny, huh?" those scrunched eyebrows now directed towards him. "How about you be the pregnant one- your body changing in ways you'd never expect, wanting to eat everything under the goddamn sun, and having unruly hair!" he turned back towards the mirror.

Even though Neji was unusually irritable and very snappy today, Sasuke couldn't help but admire his husband. The sunlight coming through the bathroom window was reflecting beautifully off his smooth, creamy skin, causing an angelic like glow to surround him; his hair looked much richer in color than it normally did and there was his bump- the perfectly curved bump on his stomach where their little bundle was growing. Even with Neji wearing a t-shirt, Sasuke could now see there was something there and it made him smile. "You better calm down before you stress the baby out. Here, why don't you let me help you with that?" Sasuke asked his pregnant husband.

Letting his hair go to blanket his frame once again and with a heavy sigh, Neji walked towards Sasuke. He sat on the small, decorative foot stool in front of him and handed him the tie. Sasuke, grabbing the tie from Neji, gathered the lush tendrils into his hand. Piece by piece he pulled them into a high pony tail, securing them with the tie, and wrapping the extra length into a messy bun. "There, all done" he confirmed.

Neji paused before turning to Sasuke. "Why do you have this thing on top of my head?" he asked rather calmly in spite of how he was feeling, because Sasuke was right- he didn't want to stress the baby, especially not over his hair.

"Well, since I really don't want you to do anything drastic to your hair" Sasuke stroked the top of his head where the soft hairs lay, "I figured you wouldn't think about it if they didn't touch your skin or fall in your face. Out of sight, out of mind, right?"

"Sasuke…I look like a fucking 'who' from How the Grinch Stole Christmas" Neji's eyebrows were scrunching once again.

"At least you're a beautiful one" Sasuke tried to defend, a nervous smile coming onto his face as his husband began to glare at him. He held out his arms to the fuming brunette, "come here, babe."

Neji crawled into their king size bed, into his raven haired husbands arm. He lay next to him, intertwining his long legs with the others, nuzzling his nose in the crook of Sasuke's neck as he hugged him closely. _I swear, these mood swings are so damn confusing_ Sasuke thought as Neji began to purr in the crook of his neck, his legs rubbing against Sasuke's as he did. Wasn't he just mad at him like two seconds ago?

Sasuke looked down to Neji's protruding baby bump. Placing a hand to it, he made gentle circular motions earning soft _mmm_'s from his pregnant spouse. "I love when you rub my stomach" Neji said to Sasuke. "It's really soothing."

"Your stomach is starting to get out there" Sasuke responded, still rubbing gently. "It's hard for me not too." As Sasuke continued his motions, he felt a small thump underneath his palm. He stopped, looking to Neji to see if something was wrong.

Neji looked down at his stomach and back to his concerned husband, unsure of what just happened himself. "What was that?"

Sasuke started rubbing again, intently looking at Neji's stomach. Once again, he felt another light thump underneath his hand. "Is that-"

Neji looked towards his growing belly; his eyes began to glimmer as he looked back towards Sasuke. "I think-" he paused, "I think the baby just kicked."

Sasuke removed himself from Neji, putting some pillows behind Neji's back to prop him up. He placed himself between Neji's legs, his head parallel to the growing bump. Gently cupping his hands around Neji's baby bump, he spoke "he-hello there, little one. How are you?" He received another thump; Neji's mouth formed a perfect 'O' with the small hint of a smile. "Th-this is your dad here" Sasuke continued, "I-I can't wait to meet you." This time, he received several small thumps.

He looked up at Neji, whose face was now wearing a big smile as he lightly giggled from the tickling sensation of the baby's little kicks. "Sasuke…" he sat up with his forearms supporting his weight, "the baby is responding to your voice."

Sasuke looked back to Neji's stomach. "You don't know how much you have just made my day, little one." Sasuke started rubbing his hand against the bump as the pattern of thumps came repeatedly. Sasuke grabbed Neji's hands, placing it underneath his over the spot the baby was kicking at. "Isn't this amazing?"

"Yeah," Neji agreed. "It seems like you two are already going to have a close relationship. You're going to be a great father," Neji said, a sad smile gracing his face as he watched his husband, still amazed over the moment, looking at his stomach. _I just hope I'm there to see it…_

Xxxx

Neji sat snuggled into the comfy couch; his face was sporting a pair of slim framed glasses as he read "What to Expect When You're Expecting". Sasuke had picked up a pleather of reading materials for them to get ready for the baby; Neji enjoyed reading, especially since he had given up his job when he found out he was pregnant.

Hearing a knock at the door, Neji put his book onto the coffee table- standing up and walking to the wooden door. Placing a hand of the door knob, he twisted and opened it- his eyes grew wide as he was met with:

"NEJI! OH MY GOSH, HI!"

_Oh no_ Neji thought to himself as he stared blankly at the trio he had dreaded since high school- the girl with shoulder length, bubble gum hair, the girl with long, platinum locks, and the girl with chocolate twin buns placed directly on top of her head.

"Sakura… Ino…Tenten" Neji greeted wearily, "how are you all?"

"We're doing great!" Sakura claimed loudly.

"We heard you were expecting!" Ino chimed in…also loudly.

"And decided to come check on you!" Tenten had finished off…loudly.

It had been like this since high school. The three girls did everything together, from changing their schedules to be in the same class to constantly having sleep overs with each other to being both Neji and Sasuke's fan club leaders. These three became so close knit that they began to finish each other's sentences- as if it had been planned or something.

"Wait-" Neji back tracked, "what do you mean you 'heard' I was expecting?" You could tell there was some slight bother in his tone.

"Oh, Naruto told us!" Sakura answered.

"But Naruto shouldn't have known," Neji was confused.

"Well, he did and now-"

"We're here to see you!" That time was an Ino Tenten moment.

"Your belly really is out there," Sakura looked towards Neji's stomach, "like Naruto wasn't making this up."

Neji sighed heavily, taking his glasses from his nose. "No, he wasn't lying. I'm almost twenty four weeks in."

The trio gasped in unison. "Twenty four weeks! How come you haven't told anyone?!" Ino asked.

"I didn't think anyone wanted to know" Neji lied. He didn't want to tell the true reason from not wanting anyone to worry about him.

"You silly nilly! Of course we wanted to know!" It was amazing how excited these three were all the time. "We love babies!" Tenten stated.

"Well, I guess I know nex-"

"Oh my goodness! We should take you shopping!" Sakura interrupted Neji.

"I…I think I'm good-"

"Yeah, yeah! We should!" Tenten and Ino both agreed.

"We should go now!"

"I really have to finish this-"

"No, that can wait!" Now Ino interrupted Neji.

"But I don't have on proper clothes-"

"Just put on those shoes right there" Tenten pointed to the boat shoes by the entrance of the door, "and let's go!"

"Those don't match what I have on-"

"Oh, you're pregnant. You can get away with anything!" Sakura said grabbing Neji's arm. Tenten got his shoes, and Ino made sure to lock the door behind them as Sakura drug Neji towards her car.

"We're going to have so much fun!" Sakura smiled brightly at Neji who gave a weak 'heh' in response.

_I'm going to fucking kill him_ Neji thought to himself as his eyebrows wrinkled in aggravation about a certain raven haired man currently at work.

Xxxx

Sasuke was lying in between the cozy comforter and sheets of his bed. Having just got home from work, taking a long hot shower, putting on his flannel pajama pants he loved so much, and filling his stomach with a much needed meal, he was in perfect condition to fall asleep, until-

"SASSSUKEEEE!" He froze under the covers hearing his name angrily called from a certain brunette's throat with a slam of the front door. "I'M GOING TO FUCKING KILL YOU!"

As he heard the harsh, loud stomps of his pregnant husband growing louder, he pulled the covers over his head- tucking the sides underneath his lean build.

The bedroom door flung open, hitting the wall behind it with a loud thud. "YOU ASS!" Sasuke was so terrified by the tone in Neji's voice he had tried to stop breathing so he wouldn't find where he was.

"GET FROM UNDER THE COVERS!"

"I'm not doing shit with you yelling at me like that" Sasuke said shakily, his heart beating to where you could see it outside his chest.

"SO YOU WANT ME TO COME UNDER THERE?!"

Sasuke shook his head, knowing on the outside it really just looked like a bunch of moving. "I'm scared...and I don't even know what I did, so how about you tell me before I come out?"

"YOU TOLD NARUTO I WAS PREGNANT?!"

Sasuke's eyes widened and his breath hitched. _FUCKING NARUTO_ he thought in his head- his eyebrows wrinkling like his upset husband's. "Babe, it just kind of slipped-"

In the blink of an eye, his body was no longer warmed by the covers. He looked up and was staring into the glaring eyes of his husband- the covers clenched deathly in his right fist.

"It just slipped, huh?" Neji voice toned down, which completely creeped Sasuke out.

_I'm seriously asking the doctor if he can be prescribed anything for these damn mood swings _he thought again. Sitting up and swinging his legs over the edge of the bed, Sasuke reached his hands out to place them on Neji's hips- they got swatted away.

"Oh, come on, Neji! What's the problem?"

"Because of you, I just spent the last SEVEN HOURS with Sakura, Ino, and Tenten!"

Sasuke grimaced thinking about those three. God, they were so overbearing, and he truly felt for his pregnant spouse. "What were you doing with them?"

"They took me shopping for the baby."

"Looking like that?" Sasuke pointed to Neji's outfit- a baseball tee, some rolled up sweat pants, boat shoes, and not to mention, his hair was still sitting in a messy bun on top of his head.

"Now is not the time to fuck with me, Sasuke" Neji's voice was firm, causing Sasuke to bite his bottom lip.

"I'm sorry…" he trailed off, "well did you find anything nice for the baby?"

"Yeah, I found a lot of things…well, they found a lot of things" Neji started, looking towards the ceiling while thinking of what to say. "They wanted to get everything pink. I told them we don't even know what the gender of the baby is, but Sakura insisted we are going to have a girl and she-" he paused, "wait a minute- THAT'S NOT WHAT WE WERE TALKING ABOUT!"

Sasuke knew what he had done which caused a smirk to appear on his face. Along with Neji's horrible mood swings, he was also experiencing a bad case of "baby brain". He was so easily taken off task or off a subject it was amusing to Sasuke.

He chuckled, "I know that's not what we were talking about, but I already told you- I don't want you stressing the baby out from being upset all the time." He reached out for Neji's hips again, this time with success. He pulled Neji in between his legs, placing his nose to the bump on Neji's belly. "Have you felt the baby moving at all today?"

Smiling down at his husband, Neji ran his fingers through the soft raven locks beneath him. "Yes, I did, and it still tickled. Even with this going on for almost a month, it still feels really odd."

Sasuke nuzzled his nose where his child was growing, earning a small chuckle from Neji. "Man, I can't wait to meet him or her." He stopped nuzzling, his hands still on Neji's hips as he pulled him down onto his lap, wrapping his arms around the other's waist. Meeting his nose with Neji's, Sasuke smiled- his lips lightly grazing the pair in front of him.

"What do you want him or her to be?" Neji asked.

Moving back and looking off to the side thinking, Sasuke turned back to look at his silver tinted eye beauty. "I want a girl."

Neji's eye brow rose. "Really? You want a girl? Mr. Insensitive himself?"

"Hey, I am not insensitive," Sasuke defended himself, "you already know I just don't let shit bother me too much, and yes- I want a girl."

"Okay then- why?" Neji questioned.

"I know we would have a beautiful daughter, and we would raise her to be an intelligent, charming, and brilliant beauty just like her daddy." Sasuke smirked at Neji, his eyes glimmered while he talked about his dream child. "I didn't have any sisters, and I always thought about how it would be to have one. To me, she would make me more of a man. I would want to be more of a provider and protector; you know, give me more motivation to do what I do now for us. Not that a boy would mean any less to me; I would be happy either way, but I just always imagined myself with a baby girl."

Neji's fingers found themselves back in the raven tendrils, twirling small strands around themselves. "I want a boy" he stated. "I imagine his personality would be something that makes me smile or laugh every day. I would look forward to sports games, if he chooses to play, or cleaning him after he's been playing in dirt all day," he laughed at the thought, "and boys are just lower maintenance than girls. I feel we would have too much to worry about. Girls get to that age where they get attitudes, start liking boys, and-" he shuddered at the last thought, not even able to say it. "Boys are just carefree, and I would adapt to that easier, I guess."

Placing soft lips to the brunette on his lips, Sasuke hugged him closely. "Do you want to find out the gender at your next doctor's appointment?"

Neji thought about it for a second. "No," he answered, "I want it to be a surprise for both of us."

Sasuke smiled. "I was thinking the same thing."

Xxxx

Pulling up to his best friend's house and stepping out his midnight blue Lexus, Sasuke removed his sunglasses- closing the door behind him and locking the car.

"Hey Sasuke!" Naruto called coming out the front door of his home. "What's up today-oof!" He doubled over from his stomach being met with Sasuke's fist. "What the-" he coughed, "hell was that for?!"

"You opened your big mouth, that's what."

"I didn't even mean to!" Naruto exclaimed, standing up straight and rubbing his aching stomach.

Sasuke's raised a questioning eyebrow. "What do you mean you didn't mean to?"

Naruto held his hands up in defense. "The gang had called and said they wanted to hang out- the high school gang, and of course, we all got some drinks in us and I got so trashed, man, it was-"

"And you let it fucking slip out, huh?" Sasuke folded his arms; he was harshly glaring at his best friend at this point.

"I mean-" Naruto began trembling- a bead of sweat feel from his forehead, "THEY ASKED HOW YOU TWO WERE AND WHY YOU WEREN'T THERE AND I JUST TOLD THEM YOU WERE AT WORK AND NEJI COULDN'T DRINK ANYWAYS CAUSE HE WAS PREGNANT! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! Please don't kill me!" Naruto closed his eyes, wincing as his heart's pace began to pick up. Through the twenty years of their friendship, Naruto was always getting hit with hay makers from Sasuke for either doing shit or causing shit to go wrong. He knew Sasuke's fuse was rather short with him, and after getting that punch to the gut- he really wasn't in the mood to feel that anywhere else.

Looking at his panicked friend, Sasuke let out a huge laugh- throwing his head back, closing his eyes, and holding his stomach. "Get up, Naruto. I'm not going to kill you." He held a peaceful hand to his friend who exhaled greatly and smiled taking the offered hand.

"Oh, phew, man" placing a hand behind his golden locks, "I thought I was a goner."

"Nah," Sasuke assured, "I figured something would happen for you to slip up. I was already prepared for it so I'm not going to do anything." He placed his hands in his pockets, walking towards the blonde man's home. "Now Neji on the other hand- he may just kill you," he said casually.

Naruto gulped, the panic rising in his chest. "You're- you're not serious are you?" he asked shakily.

Sasuke stopped, turning his head towards Naruto wearing a stern face. "His mood swings…are NOT something you want to deal with, bro."

"How did he- wait, how did he find out I told?!"

"SakuInoTen." At the mention of that name, Naruto's heart damn near jumped out his chest. He knew how those three were, and if Sasuke was right about Neji's temper right now? He knew he was done for.

"H-how d-did he t-take it?"

Sasuke started walking again, calling back coolly "I almost got my neck snapped off just for telling you" as he walked through the door of the home.

His eyes widening and paranoia starting to flare up within him, Naruto looked both left and right before making a run for his house- looking backward to make sure the pregnant brunette was nowhere in sight. He closed the door behind him quickly upon entering his house, heavily sighing from relief; he was safe…for now.

Xxxx

Five hours later, Sasuke placed the key into the door knob in the front of his house. Unlocking the door and twisting the knob, he pushed his way through. He closed the door behind him; slowly turning around, he called "Babe, I'm ba-"

He was instantly silenced from the stacks of boxes cluttering his living room. His pregnant brunette husband, still sporting his messy bun, was glaring at him heavily. "Welcome, back, Sasuke" his tone sent a harsh chill running up his spine.

Placing his keys on the kitchen counter, Sasuke continued towards the living room. "What the hell is all of this?"

"Oh, you know, just stuff for the baby…FROM EVERYONE IN THE FUCKING VILLAGE!"

Sasuke's face slanted as he was met with…once again…those beautifully scrunched eyebrows of Neji's. He was really beginning to like this look with how often he got it. It was becoming a norm for him. "Everyone in the village? How does everyone kno-"

"Do you really have to ask that?" Neji asked with a raised brow, his arms folded across his chest as he sat Indian style on the floor.

"I guess I know- those three really do have big mouths, huh?" he asked rhetorically, a nervous chuckle escaping his throat as he scratched the back of his neck.

Not bothering to answer, Neji looked back to the pile of baby clothes he was sorting through. "I can't believe how much pink and blue everyone has gotten us. We don't even know the gender!"

"Maybe they're telling us what they personally want us to have" Sasuke replied, sitting in a chair at the dining room table. Looking at Neji, who looked annoyed, sort through things, Sasuke asked "you want some help?"

"No," Neji responded quickly, "you've done…enough, already."

Letting out a heavy sigh and rolling his eyes, Sasuke got up and walked over to his husband, sitting across from him on the floor and picking up a miniature article of clothing. "Wow" he said examining the article, "I can't believe the baby is going to be this small at first."

"Yeah," Neji said not looking up, but smiling, "it's pretty amazing we all start out that small."

Folding the little piece of clothing, Sasuke placed it along with the other things Neji had sorted already. "What else have we gotten?"

"Let's see" Neji began to recall, "we got a baby tub, bath supplies, a cute little robe…well three cute little robes, socks, shoes, onsies, sleepers, pacifiers, bottles," he paused continuing to think, "a bouncer…four bouncers, a swing…two swings, a playpen…three of those actually, a crib, a bunch of toys…"the list kept going on, and as Neji continued to name things, his mind felt like it was about to have a meltdown. "Oh, and Itachi gave a four wheeler."

Sasuke's face went straight. "He gave us a four wheeler?"

"Hey, I was pretty confused about it too," Neji claimed, standing up and stretching his stiff limbs. "That's your weirdo brother- always giving damn extravagant gifts even if they have nothing to do with the occasion. I don't understand it."

"Heh, he's always been a spoiler since our parents passed, I guess" Sasuke really didn't understand the method behind Itachi's madness either- he just went with the flow.

"Well whatever it is, that thing is going in the garage for a long time…or maybe not" Neji thought, a grin coming onto his face, "I might just ride it when I recover." He rubbed his hands together thinking about going over mud hills; he used to enjoy riding his when he was younger.

Standing up and pulling Neji into his arms, the baby bump keeping him a safe distance away, he kissed the brunette. "What are we going to do with all this stuff?"

Looking around at their overly cluttered living room, Neji answered "I guess it would be time for us to make a nursery."

"I guess I'll start clearing out one of the guest rooms."

"Yeah, that would be your best bet, and you might want to get some help, cause I'm not doing shit" Neji made sure to note "this is all on you," he pointed to the boxes, turning on his heels to head for the bathroom. "This baby is pushing on my damn bladder!"

Watching Neji's ass move from side to side as he shuffled to the bathroom, Sasuke pulled out his cell phone to make a call. "Hey, loser. I need your help…" he paused, "we need to make a nursery for the baby because I would like my living to go back to the way it was before we got crap load of baby stuff…and since you caused this to go public, I'm putting you to work." He listened as Naruto whined on the other end of the phone in protest. "Yeah, whatever, you're coming. See you soon, chump."

Closing his phone, Sasuke took another look at the mile high boxes he would be putting away letting out a heavy sigh. _This is not going to be fun…_

**TBC.  
Your opinion wants to be read.**


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3.

**A/N: So…lucky you all who follow the story- you get a double chapter release! I had been working on the fourth chapter since I wrote the prologue. **(_What the heck?! How did you even-)_** Yeah, I know; I already knew where I wanted the story to end up and instead of putting it off til I got there, I just wrote it and went back to fill in chapters one-three. I don't know why my brain does that to me, cause it has me feeling really scatter brained . Anyways! I just decided to post both at the same time to get it out the way. I hope you all enjoy!**

Xxx

_Hello there. It's the pregnant man here. I'm at twenty eight weeks now; that only leaves twelve weeks left…_

_Wow, just saying that makes me realize just how much time has flown by, and I think I'm getting sad about it. Why you might ask? Well, I feel like I have such a close bond with the little one already; I'm worried that may be threatened once they get here and other people are around, you know? This whole entire time of my and Sasuke's relationship, I've been telling myself we would never be able to have a family, and look what happens- I find out something very special about myself. I know in the beginning I was acting like a sour puss about it being all "uhh, I'm like a woman" and "blah, I'm the bitch of the relationship" and "argh, I can't believe I have to go through this!"…but now? I'm actually really happy that I'm getting to go through this experience. Yeah, I may have to run to the bathroom twelve times out of the day, I have to eat two plates at each meal…oh! Don't forget my snackage in between (He giggles) I've had to go get my hair cut TWICE within the last two months because it's growing like damn wildfire, and- what else? Oh yeah, Sasuke is on the brink of getting his head chopped off most of the time, but I wouldn't trade anything._

_(He looks towards his stomach, rubbing in gentle circular motions.)_

_After I felt the baby kick that first time, I was in heaven. It's very comforting…and very ticklish might I add. Well, the tickling effect has died down a little; the bugger is getting rather large in there and their kicks have me feeling like I'm a damn soccer ball sometimes. It's really not fun for me, but I guess I'll take it because at least I know he or she is okay; it's like a sign I have nothing to really worry about. They kind of give me a feeling of calmness and security that both of us will make it out this thing alive…_

_Oh! The nursery got completed; it's very beautiful. Hinata and I spent a lot of time picking out décor and deciding what colors to use. I'm not going to reveal the details, though. I want it to be a surprise for everyone; not even Sasuke knows what it looks like. I mean, after spraining his wrist moving all those gift boxes from the living room to the nursery…I told him to make several trips, but he insisted he was "man" enough to take stacks of five at a time. So after he became a cripple, Hinata dragged Naruto to come help out-_

_-pause-_

_That was a disaster. Naruto is such a dimwit, it's no wonder Hinata had me help her out when she was pregnant. He couldn't do anything right. He screwed the frickin' sides of the crib on upside down! Then when it came to painting? (He rolls his eyes) I should have just asked Hiro to do it for me, because his father had paint splattered on the ceiling and smeared into the carpet. (He places his hand to his forehead) Needless to say, we had to pull the carpet up and put down hardwood floor…well, Shikamaru did. I thank the heavens Sasuke has at least ONE friend who can do something right, despite his complaining and god awful laziness. (He shifts his eyes to the left) The nursery alone has been a journey in itself, but as long as it's ready and our living room doesn't look like it's choked out baby stuff, I'm fine._

_(He stretches back and lets out a yawn.) Yeah, I think I've talked enough for today, and I feel a nap coming on. Pregnant man signing out!_

Xxx

"Ah man, this is like the coolest thing I have ever seen!" Sasuke exclaimed, watching the monitor as his unborn child kicked the probe on its' father stomach.

"You have an active one here," Temari giggled, placing the rejected probe in another spot. "I don't think he or she wants to be intruded on."

Neji let out chuckle, "I guess we're already going to have a problem with privacy. Are you ready for that, Sasuke?"

"Oh," Sasuke smirked, "there better not be any secrets. I have no problem unbolting a door from the hinges. We can have a doorless home for all I care."

Temari and Neji both laughed in unison. As Temari continued to fight for dominance with the little one stomping around in Neji's stomach, Sasuke and Neji looked on in amazement. They baby had gotten unbelievably big in the past few weeks. Its' limbs were fully developed- growing longer and getting fatter as each day went by. They could make out the full features of their unborn child's face, guessing it had Neji's nose and Sasuke's lips, but neither was sure enough to guess what the gender was. Temari had asked if they wanted to know, but both made it very clear it was to be a surprise.

"Well" Temari started, turning the monitor off and pulling Neji's shirt down, "our little one is doing just fine. Everything is growing properly and it looks like you're on track for a healthy delivery." Neji let out a sigh of relief with Temari's reassuring words. "Do you all have any questions?"

"Yeah, is there anything you can prescribe for horrible mood swings?" Sasuke asked earning a death glare from his pregnant husband.

Temari let out a light chuckle. "Just how bad are these mood swings?"

Sasuke placed a hand into his silky raven locks. "Well, I would like to be able to walk around my home without having to duck and dodge pots, books, and other various items thrown at me on a whim."

Neji, still sitting on the examination table, folded his arms across his chest turning his head opposite of the other two in the room. "I am not that bad" he muttered under his breath.

"Eek, well I guess we can prescribe something for that." Temari took a pad from her jacket pocket and began to write on it, "I'll be describing a low dose of oxytocin, which is known as the 'cuddle drug', which should be taken twice a day. That should be enough to-" she paused looking for the right word, "curve those deadly mood swings."

"I'M NOT THAT BAD!" Neji shouted with furrowed eyebrows at the two who looked on in horror.

Scrapping the first prescription she wrote, Temari began to write again. "On second thought, I will prescribe a HIGH dosage that should only be taken once a day."

"So he finally asked, huh?" Sasuke thought aloud, looking at the one carat diamond engagement ring Temari was sporting on her small ring finger.

Looking up in question, Temari noticed the smile Sasuke wore looking in the direction of her finger. She smiled herself, "yeah, he asked this week, actually. It was a pretty…odd proposal; I woke up one morning to get ready for work, I look on my nightstand, and there it is- the ring with a note that says 'marry me'."

"What was so odd about it?" Neji asked.

"He was laying right next to me…sleep, but for Shikamaru, I guess it would be normal," she shook her head. "It was probably troublesome enough to write the note."

"Hn," Sasuke scoffed, "that guy is something else."

"Yeah, he is, but I love him all the same." Temari finished writing out Neji's prescription, tearing the sheet from the pad and handing it to Sasuke. "Here you are. You should see some result immediately; if not, just give me a call and I will prescribe something…higher."

Neji grumbled and Sasuke waved Temari "bye" as she walked through the door. "Come on," Sasuke demanded, taking Neji's hand to help him off the table, "we're getting this filled…NOW."

Xxx

"Neji, will you PLEASE just take the medicine ONCE!" Sasuke pleaded with his stubborn pregnant husband. It had been a month since Temari prescribed the pills for Neji's mood swings, and every day since then, he fought with Sasuke to take them.

"I'm not taking anything! You can kiss my ass!" Neji voice was distant as he screamed from their bedroom upstairs in their three story home. "I'm not some psychiatric patient!"

"Neji, please!" the raven haired man clenched his fist at his side as his patience was growing thin.

"YOU TAKE THEM!"

"I'M NOT THE ONE WHO FUCKING NEEDS THEM!" Sasuke finally snapped. "You know, I doubt the risk of you or the baby losing your life comes from your body not cooperating" he started, "I bet it comes from the unnecessary shit you've been putting me through with your crap ass attitude this entire time! The constant yelling and throwing things and bitching about God knows what- it's a wonder you haven't caused the baby to go into some type of cardiac arrest from you being a fucking dumbass!" His breathing was fast, his body was tensed, and the rational part of his mind was drowned out by frustration. "Ugh," he looked down at his watch, noticing it was half past ten in the morning, "I don't have time to put up with this bullshit right now. I have to work." He called upstairs, grabbing his jacket from the closet and his keys from the kitchen counter.

Hearing the front door of the house slam shut, Neji sat on his bed, looking towards his enlarged, perfectly curved abdomen poking through his shirt as wet droplets splattered onto it. _How could he say something like that? _he thought to himself, sinking into a pit of misery. _This whole entire time, I've been worried about this and he can so openly say that? I- _his thoughts trailed off as he laid himself onto the soft mattress- hugging his body pillow close to him as he began to sob into it. His long chocolate locks blanketed him, covering his tear stained face. _This shit hurts; maybe taking them will help me feel better…_

xxx

"What's up, man?" Shikamaru called, walking through the doors of Sasuke's office.

Sasuke, letting out a heavy sigh and placing a packet of documents off to the side of his desk, responded "man, I can't deal with Neji anymore during this pregnancy."

"It's that bad?" Shikamaru asked, taking a seat in his usual spot- the client's chair. "I mean, I haven't really experienced a pregnancy, and I'm not really looking forward to it," he pulled his cellphone from his pocket, going to a game of Sudoku, "but I thought Neji was supposed to be a special case? You know, with minimal symptoms and all?"

"That's the thing about it- he's supposed to have fewer symptoms, but his attitude is just fucking horrible! I lost my cool this morning and just spat out shit. I don't even remember what I said- I was just so infuriated…"

Noticing how his friend was crushing an important document in his hand and how his stare was burning through the wall of his office, Shikamaru placed his phone back into his pocket; standing up and walking over to his best friend, he placed a friendly hand upon his tensed shoulder. "We're going out for a much needed drink tonight…" he paused, "and leave Naruto at home. I don't need you chancing a lawsuit for manslaughter with how you're feeling right now. He would be too bothersome, so leave it at just me and you."

Sasuke nodded in agreement, releasing the crinkled document and letting out an exasperated exhale.

Xxx

After struggling to open the front door of his home for ten minutes, Sasuke stumbled inward- throwing his coat to the floor and placing his keys on the counter…well, missing the kitchen countertop. He trudged into the kitchen, opening cabinets and fumbling for a glass. Getting a glass and unintentionally slamming the cabinet door closed, he went to the faucet for some water. Placing his lips to the glass and taking a sip of the cool water that slid down his alcohol burned throat, Sasuke walked out of the kitchen and into the living room.

He suddenly paused as he stepped onto the carpeted floor- his eyebrows wrinkling and his grip tightening around the glass. "What the fuck are you doing here?" he asked through gritted teeth. "And why are you with him?"

Lying on the couch, with his arms wrapped securely around the slender pregnant male, was him- Itachi Uchiha. His piercing obsidian irises narrowed sharply at the sight of his younger brother who glared back at him. Itachi maneuvered himself from behind Neji to sit up- coming to his feet and turning back to bend down, reaching to cradle the long haired male in his arms. He walked towards Sasuke, brushing past him and sending a cold chill running up the younger Uchiha's spine.

Sasuke's lips curved downward hearing his older brother's footsteps drawing away from him as he went up the steps. Turning towards those same steps a few moments late, both pairs of onyx eyes met, intensely glaring toward each other.

Itachi coolly walked back down the steps, once again brushing past his younger brother after he met him at the bottom.

"Don't ignore me," Sasuke started, his back still met with that of Itachi's. "Why are you here?"

"I simply came by for a visit," Itachi answered smugly.

Sasuke scoffed, turning towards his brother- his gaze burning into the long, raven haired man's back. "Spare me the bullshit, Itachi. Why are you here? And more so, why were you hugged up to my husband?"

Itachi closed his eyes- a smirk graced his face. "I was here for a visit," Itachi answered, turning towards his brother, "and I was comforting Neji."

"Don't you think I can do that?" Sasuke asked angrily, his fingers clenching even tighter around the long forgotten empty glass in his hand.

"I don't know, considering you are the reason he needed comforting in the first place."

"And what the hell do you mean by that?" the younger Uchiha asked, subtly grinding his teeth as the anger singed in his stomach; Itachi let out a low chuckle. "This is funny to you?"

"In fact, it is. It really is, Sasuke" the older man started, "you're so fucking clueless, it's pathetic."

"Wha-"

"It's a wonder Neji even stayed with your dumbass" Itachi said casually, causing a still intoxicated Sasuke to snap.

"You bastard!" As Sasuke threw the glass to the floor crashing it and charged towards his older brother- his intent to beat his face to bloody pulp, he was met with a stern fist to the stomach, temporarily knocking the wind out of his as he collapsed to the floor.

A stoic looking Itachi looked down upon his coughing brother who was gasping for air. "God, why is he with you?"

With air finally back in his lungs, Sasuke clenched at his chest trying to steady his breathing. "You and I both know…" he panted in-between sentences, "you have always been jealous of my and Neji's relationship…jealous that he chose me over some unemotional bitch like you."

Reaching down and grabbing Sasuke by the collar of his undershirt, Itachi pulled Sasuke to his feet- meeting their eyes as he glared dangerously at the younger male. "Lets get one fucking thing straight, you brat," Itachi's grip tightened, slightly strangling Sasuke's breathing in the process, "I let him go for you, because of you- thinking of you and your happiness instead of my own. I could have kept him…" his words were cold, and his tone was unforgiving as he reprimanded his younger brother, "which would have probably been for the best seeing as you don't know how to keep your insensitive ass comments to yourself."

"Wha-" Sasuke stopped struggling with Itachi who, at the surrender, let him down. He placed his hands around his neck, massaging gently, "what are you talking about?"

"What you said to him this morning. When I came for my visit, to congratulate you both on your new edition properly since I had the time…" he paused, looking up the stairs thinking about the beautiful brunette sleeping peacefully in his bed, "I found him up there, clinging desperately to his pillow for comfort which was soaked from his tears. The searing pain I felt in my heart when he told me the insolent things you said towards him made me want to beat your fucking face in…make you eat the shit you spat out towards him."

"But he has been treating me like shit for the past four months now!" Sasuke interrupted defensively. "Why should I have to deal with-"

"And that's why I said you don't deserve him!" Sasuke's eyes widened at the harsh, risen tone of his normally composed older brother. "Have you thought about him and what he has to go through?!"

"I-" Sasuke stuttered; his voice cracked throughout his speaking, "I have."

"No! You haven't, or you wouldn't say the shit you have! You wouldn't have kept dismissing his genuine concern about losing his life to carry your child- YOUR CHILD!" Itachi's chest rose and fell quickly as he angrily spoke to his younger brother. "Yeah, his mood swings have been horrible, but he's chancing his life along with this baby to make you, the selfish bastard who can't deal with a minor attitude for a few more weeks, happy. All he's ever wanted was to make you happy, and all I've ever wanted was to make him happy which is why I let him go. I'll be damned if you come mess this up with your bullshit, Sasuke."

Sasuke, listening to Itachi's words, lowered his head trying hard to fight back the vicious swelling of tears.

Itachi walked towards the front door, putting on his jacket and shoes- pulling his keys from his jacket pocket. Calming his breathing, he placed a hand onto the door knob and turned to look towards his frozen brother. "Please tell Neji I am sorry I couldn't stay until he woke up, and please let me know when my niece or nephew has arrived. I would love to see the beautiful child I could only wish I helped to create." And with that, Itachi turned on his heels and exited through the door, leaving a shook Sasuke behind in a puddle of his own tears.

_Shit_, Sauke thought a few seconds after the door clicked signaling his brother's leaving. _He always does this to me; when I feel like I've reached the highest maturity of a man, he comes and breaks me down back to feeling like a damn child_. He drug his sleeves along his watering eyes, sniffling and looking up the stairs where his pregnant husband still slept in their bed. _No, I don't deserve to sleep next to him tonight,_ Sasuke noted, walking towards the couch- his body falling helplessly into the cushions. _And all this time I thought I was being a good partner, but I was ignoring the most important thing_, his eyes began to fall heavy as sleep became him. _I really am selfish…_

Xxx

Eyes flittered as a pregnant man awoke from his sleep. "I-Itachi" his voice called whispered, remembering the long haired older Uchiha he had fallen asleep with the night before. When no answer was heard, he slowly sat up- throwing his legs over the edge of the bed and rubbing his swollen tummy. "Good morning, love" he spoke lovingly towards the already active child temporarily living within him. Pulling himself out of bed, he headed towards the bathroom for his morning routine- a nice long trip to the toilet to empty his smushed bladder, a brush of his pearly whites, a wash of his glowing pale sking, and to brush his luscious silk locks that framed his body beautifully.

Neji slightly waddled down the steps- the extra weight of his unborn child throwing off his equilibrium. Reaching the bottom of the steps, he started towards the kitchen.

"Was he more comforting than me?" a stern yet hushed voice asked the brunette making his way to the kitchen.

"Huh?" Neji turned to the couch of the living room, seeing a paler than normal looking Sasuke sitting upon it. His eyes had heavy bags under them- a sign he didn't get much sleep that night. He sat upright- his gaze downward and his hands were clasped.

"I asked," he turned his dropping lids towards his husband, "was he more comforting than I am?"

The pregnant male's expression was slightly disturbed looking at the almost sickly looking male. "Sasuke, I-" he paused, thinking back to the day before…the one he spent with Itachi, "nothing happened if that's what you're thinking."

Sasuke abruptly rose to his feet, walking towards his pale eyed husband; upon reaching him, he enclosed his arms around the slender man's waist- the curve of Neji's baby bump keeping them apart. Placing his head into the brunette locks, he began to sniffle as stifled tears pushed themselves through. "I'm so sorry, Neji" he spoke breathily, his usually cool composed shell cracking. "I don't- I didn't mean to make you feel like-"

Neji hugged his husband back, closing his arms securely around his neck and placing a sympathetic hand in his raven locks. "Sasuke, there's nothing for you to worry about. I'm fine. I just had a vulnerable moment and Itachi just happened to show up. My love and want for you has not wavered from this." He continued to speak warmly as the other man's tear flow subsided, gently stroking the soft hairs upon his head, "I understand you seem like you're dismissing my feelings because you want to be strong for me. Like you always say, there's no need for both of us to be frantic or nothing will ever progress; we would both be too stressed to think clearly." Looking towards the bottle of his pills on the counter, Neji's expression saddened, "I'm the one who should be sorry; I have been putting you through hell these past few months, and I should have cooperated with you when it was time for me to take the meds-"

Pulling his head back to stare his husband in his glittering silver tinted eyes, Sasuke shook his head in disagreement. "No, you're supposed to be like this; you have an excu- a reason to be so on edge, a damn good reason at that. I haven't taken your feelings into consideration fully, I'll admit it, and for that and for what I said yesterday," he reached a hand up to cup Neji's cheek, "I'm really sorry."

Neji leaned forward- placing a tender kiss to the other's lips. When the kiss was finished, he pulled back, his arms still around Sasuke's neck as a smile graced his face, "you look like hell- want to get some sleep?"

Sasuke smirked, reaching a hand to his own face- dragging it down his tear slick cheek. "Yeah, some sleep would be wonderful, but I have to work in a few."

Neji shook his head, "no, you're going to stay home today. I can't have you trying to drive and your eyes look like they're going to collapse on you. You're going to bed, like yesterday."

"Only if you come with me, babe," Sasuke responded, leaning forward to nuzzle his nose against the other man.

"Of course I will…"

**TBC**


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter 4.

xxx

_Hello there; it's the soon to be father here, and I mean REALLY soon when I say that. I'm at thirty six weeks now, and in a short four, I'll be going in for my C-section. I'm actually very nervous about the surgery; the fact that it is even surgery kind of freaks me out. I've never broken anything or had any problems in my life to go through the procedure. The anesthesia, the sharp instruments, and the possibility of something going wrong? Yeah, I may be a man, but I do get scared too…_

_I guess I just have this feeling of nervousness all around, like I'm not prepared for anything even though I've read books from cover to cover twice. I'm actually pretty scared I'm not prepared to be a parent, for eighteen plus years. It feels like just yesterday, we found out about our soon to be bundle of joy, and we're almost meeting them. I've just been wondering these past four weeks, especially after my and Sasuke's falling out- are we ready to be parents? How is our child going to respond having two fathers? I figure if it's a boy, we may be fine, but what if it's a girl? Will not having a mother figure in her life scar her in some ways? Will we be able to mold her to be a respectable, intelligent, and self-confident young woman if we aren't women ourselves? I guess I'm sensitive enough to be the mother figure of this relationship…hell, I even get confused for a woman most of the time, but it still doesn't settle my mind…_

_Oh! Speaking of gender- even though we don't know what we are having, we still have some names picked out; there are some that I like more than others, and with the help of Hinata and SakuInoTen _(He shudders at the thought)_ Oh god, they can be so overbearing…I'm pretty sure whatever the baby comes out to be, we'll most definitely have a beautiful name to grace out new edition with._

(He pauses)

_Hm, what else? I was supposed to talk about how I've been feeling. I've been feeling pretty odd as of lately. My stomach has gotten a little bigger than before; there is a definitely noticeable bump there and it attracts so much attention. I'm like "haven't you all seen a pregnant man before?!" and then I think "wait- you haven't." It's not perfectly round or as protruding as a woman's, but you can most certainly tell I am NOT normal. _(He rubs his stomach)_ I'm kind of wishing my body wasn't so toned before getting pregnant. My abdomen being pushed out has me feeling like I'm stretched to the max. I'm surprised my abs haven't just smoothed out; they're still trying to hold their form, and I'm like "no, please, just give up; I would like to feel a little comfortable"…_

_Oops…there goes my rambling again; I've been doing that a lot more lately, too. I don't know, it's like my mind is in one hundred different places at one time and I trail off and get off topic and continue to go on and on about something completely not relevant- _(pause)_ I'm doing it again, aren't I? Okay, okay back to what I was talking about. How am I feeling? Well I'm feeli- _

(He feels a jolt of pain in his abdomen and places a hand to it.)

_Wow…that was odd; I'm feeli-_

(The pain comes back, twice as bad this time.)

_What the- _

(Another sharp jolt of pain)

_What the fuck is going on?! _

Xxxx

Neji turned away from his video log, holding a hand to his oddly tightening stomach. "Sasuke!" he yelled towards the door, still sitting in the computer room chair. "SASUKE!"

"Neji?" Sasuke walked into the room with his yelling husband, kneeling down in front of him, "wh-what's wrong?"

A pained expression apparent on his face, Neji clenched his stomach harde; looking into Sasuke's eyes- his own eyebrows confusingly wrinkled. "Some-" he inhaled sharply, throwing his head back, "something is wrong with my stomach."

Sasuke reached a shaky hand and placed it where Neji's hand once was. "Wa- wait, why is your stomach so hard?"

"I have no ide-" Neji unexpectedly screamed agonizingly and fell to the floor, bringing his knees to his chest and hugging them closely.

"Neji!" Sasuke leaned over him, his own apprehension rising. "What's going on!"

Neji began to pant heavily; keeping his knees as close to his chest as possible, his stomach continued to tighten- tears increased heavily in his eyes. "Sas…uke" Neji's voice came out strained, a tortured look plastered on his face, "I'm- I'm scared."

Xxx

(SASUKE's POV)

I hurriedly carried Neji into the emergency room bridal style in my arms; his body was burning up. He began to sweat profusely as his head moved sluggishly from side to side; his eyes were becoming vacant- all sign of life was suddenly vanishing in them.

"Neji, just hold on" I said lovingly, trying to keep my composure as I watched my beautiful husband suffer in my arms. As I reached the front desk of the emergency ward, I tried, "ma'am I need to see Dr. Hat-"

"Sir, you're gonna have to wait-"

"My husband said he feels like he's dying. I need to see Dr. Hatake" I said with the utmost patience I could muster at this point.

"I'm sorry, sir, but all these other people need to see a doctor, too."

"Ma'am, I understand that but he needs to be seen no-"

"I'm aware of that, but you're still going to have to-"

"LOOK!" patience had become long forgotten at that moment and replaced by blind rage. "I NEED TO SEE DR. HATAKE RIGHT FUCKING NOW!" the bitch really pissed me off. "My husband is fucking pregnant! His body is responding in an unpredicted way, and I do not know what to do! He is at risk of losing his life, as well as my unborn child and, so help me God," I spoke through gritted teeth, "if I lose either of them because of your simple, incompetent ass, I will make your life fucking miserable! Now where the hell is Dr. Hatake?!"

Apparently my words truly shook her, because the next words out of her mouth were "PAGING DR. HATAKE, WE HAVE AN EMERGENCY IN THE LOBBY! YOUR ASSISTANCE IS NEEDED!" Damn right, it was.

Right away, some techs came with a medical bed to whisk Neji into the operating room. I wasn't allowed to follow, however. I have no idea why; I was just told to stay put.

"Sasuke! Sasuke, how is he doing?" A very soft voice called out to me from behind. I already knew it was Hinata- her blonde idiot of a husband following behind her.

"Is he okay?" Naruto asked.

"I- I'm not sure" I was trying to stay strong, fighting back the restrained tears as I worried about my beautiful husband. "They just came and took him away."

"Oh my, I wonder what could have happened" Hinata wondered aloud. "I mean, I just talked to him earlier; he said he was feeling fine."

"Yeah, same thing I said. Out of nowhere, he said he felt an odd tightening in his stomach and then doubled over" I recalled. Damn, it was hard keeping myself together thinking about him before we had arrived to the hospital, but I continued "in the car, his screaming started coming on more. He was like clawing at his stomach while his body looked as though it writhed in pain. I think he became delirious, because he passed out momentarily."

I could tell Hinata was starting to freak out by the way she brought her hands to her lips, covering her mouth while they began to shake. "He's going to be okay, love" Naruto tried to comfort her, wrapping his long, muscular arms around her small frame. "He was probably just having a bad cramp or something like you did when you were pregnant."

_A bad cramp, huh?_ I thought silently to myself. That would have settled my nerves had Temari told us he wouldn't be experiencing those things. I didn't voice it, though, trying to keep the air as light as possible in the situation.

Allowing Naruto some privacy to comfort his worried wife, I walked to the waiting area of the emergency room lobby. As I sat down and laid my head back against the wall, I noticed Shikamaru coming through the entrance.

"Hey man" he called to me, his hands in his pocket with his usual cool demeanor. "How's Neji doing?"

"Temari must have told you we were here."

"Yeah" he responded, "she got the code nine to come in, and since she told me before that would refer to Neji's case, I decided to be the wonderful friend I am and come keep you company." He gave me a smile which I tried to give back, despite how weak it was coming off. "I know you must be freaking out."

"Yeah" I let out a light chuckle- he knows me so well, "my nerves are fucking shot right now."

Shikamaru took a seat next to me, propping his feet onto the coffee table and placing his hands behind his head. "You ready to be a dad?"

I turned my head towards him, looking utterly confused, "you- you think the baby is going to be here tonight?"

"Well not exactly," he responded, leaning his head back against the wall like myself, "but more or less, you only have a few more weeks."

"Oh yeah," I looked up to the ceiling, absent mindedly counting the amount of light fixtures had blown out bulbs, "I guess you're right. I'm rea-" I hesitated to answer, thinking about the recent tension Neji and I had a few weeks ago, "I don't know, man."

Shikamaru turned his gaze towards me, his eyebrows rose in question, "is there something wrong, man?" I could tell he was concerned with his tone.

"It's nothing," I lied, "I'm sure every new parent has doubts about whether or not their ready to take on a life for eighteen years…twenty one, hopefully, if you count college."

"I guess you're right," he sighed, beginning to absent mindedly count how many light fixtures had blown bulbs as well.

"Say Shika, what made you finally cave in and ask Temari to marry you?"

"Heh," I saw him smirk in my peripheral, "I guess I took what you said to heart that night at the bar. I've been looking at you and Neji- you two are both twenty four, been together five years, been married almost two of those years, you have a child on the way," he continued, "and observing how happy your dismissive ass has been over this entire time…well despite a few weeks ago, I began to think about how I would be in that situation. Temari is beyond a lovely woman; she brings out the best in me…why wouldn't I take a chance on that?" he let out an exhale, "besides, I can't let my laziness get in the way of things I want."

I reached a hand to his shoulder and patted it proudly, "good job, man."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever, I'm just not dealing with any wedding details. She can have that."

That earned a genuine laugh to escape my throat. "You're impossible."

"You know it."

"Sasuke!" I heard my name called loudly from a distance, seeing three figures running towards me.

"Oh God no…"

"Sasuke…"

"How is…"

"Neji?!"

"Sakura…Ino…Tenten," I greeted wearily. "What a pleasant surp-"

"Yeah, whatever," Sakura interrupted me, "where is Neji?"

"How is he?" Ino chimed in behind her.

"I'm waiting on the doctor to get back to me, but how did you all find out-"

"Oh, Naruto texted us!" Tenten replied excitedly, for some odd reason…_wait- that's just how they are,_ I reminded myself.

_FUCKING NARUTO,_ I suddenly realized, glaring in his direction. He must have known what was wrong, because his eyes widened significantly and I could tell he gulped .

"Hey, hey, we're over here!" Sakura snapped to get my attention. "So what's going on?"

I looked back in her direction, really not having any words. "I just said I haven't heard from-"

And before I could get the last part of my sentence out, I saw Dr. Hatake and Temari walking in my direction. Temari didn't look like her usual jovial self, probably because it was twelve o' clock in the morning and I'm sure she had been sleeping- or so I thought.

"Hello Mr. Uchiha" the silver haired doctor greeted me, "long time no see."

"Hi," I replied curtly, "what's going on with Neji?"

"Neji was having somewhat of contractions," Temari spoke.

"I thought he wasn't supposed to get those?"

"Yes, that's why I said 'somewhat'," Temari began to explain as everyone huddled around, "Neji's body for some unknown reason is rejecting the baby. His abdominal muscles became strained and began to compress trying to retract to their original form causing him to feel immense pain, especially because of how strong his core muscles are."

"Okay," I interrupted as my heart began to pound heavily in my chest, "but why was he burning up? Why was sweating profusely? Wha- what's going to happen to him? Is he okay?"

"An-and the baby," Hinata chimed in timidly from behind me.

Temari looked to Dr. Hatake with a hint of sadness in her eyes, and he signaled her that he would take over. "Mr. Uchiha, unfortunately," he paused, "Neji's body is shutting down on him. It has gone into serious overdrive. The way his stomach is contracting, it is very unsafe for the baby. The damage isn't too bad, but the baby's lungs are being crushed and the oxygen flow is being decreased as we speak. As for Neji, he has a fever of 106.9 and if it keeps rising due to the stress being put on his body at this rate, his heart is going to give out…"

His heart wasn't the only one that was going to give out as my own sank into the deepest pit of despair and my eyes enlarged; my own breathing seemed to be slowing as well. Everyone else around had panic stricken eyes listening as Dr. Hatake spoke. Hinata began to shake as if she were extremely chilled- the corners of her eyes began to feel with moisture.

"However," he continued, "there is hope. We can do the C-section now to save the baby and it's a good chance Neji's body will stabilize afterward."

"Isn't- isn't the baby going to be premature?" Sakura asked worriedly, as I could not find my voice at the moment.

"Yes, the baby will be premature, but his or her surviving is very great. Our NICU is the best in town, and we will be sure to take great measures to monitor the child. The damage hasn't been as significant to the baby which is wonderful, but I will need consent from Mr. Uchiha first to proceed," and Kakashi looked towards me.

I was frozen. My mind was racing at a hundred and ten miles per minute, and I couldn't even focus on what he was saying to me. _Neji's gonna-_

"Sasuke! They need an answer!" Naruto shook me from my thoughts. "Come on, man! There is a chance your husband and child can be saved; get your head out of the damn clouds and give the okay!"

I looked towards Dr. Hatake and a sympathetic looking Temari. "Go ahead," my voice came out steady, much to my surprise, "do what you can to save them."

"Will do," Dr. Hatake assured, turning on his heels along with Temari and heading back towards the operating room.

Naruto resumed to trying to comfort his fear struck wife as she sobbed into his shoulder. SakuInoTen took seats on a nearby couch in the waiting room, looking at separate magazines and quietly for a change. Shikamaru and I took our previous seats back; he resumed his previous pose as I sat up- my elbows on my knees as I rested my head in my palms. My eyebrows wrinkled and my forehead began to sweat.

"I killed him" I mumbled out, unknowingly catching Shikamaru's attention.

"What did you just-"

"I killed him, Shika…I killed him."

"Sasuke," he sat up, looking concerned at me, "you didn't do anything."

"I killed him. I did this to him." My gaze was vacantly staring off into the distance as my breathing began to fasten at my heart's pace picking up. "I-I can't believe-I can't believe I-I-"

"Sasuke!" Shikamaru moved in front of me, sitting on the coffee table with his hands atop my shoulders. "Get a hold of yourself! Do not break down now. Your family needs you to be strong at this moment. They need you to support them."

"They wouldn't need me as much if I hadn't forced him into this," my voice came out unsteady; my leg began to shake at its own will. "He tried to tell me…he tried to tell me he was worried something would go wrong, and I dismissed him- only thinking of myself and how happy I was to be having a family. Itachi was right," my eyes began to pace back and forward frantically as my leg's shaking became violent, forcing my whole body to move. "I'm a selfish, uptight, insensitive-"

"Sasuke, stop dammit!" Shikamaru's unusual raised tone caused me to meet his piercing, irritated gaze. "You did NOT do this to Neji or your unborn child. I need you to calm down and start thinking rationally. You had no idea any of this would happen. Trying to keep the air light was the best thing you could have done as a partner for Neji. Screw your brother- you know he was fucking jealous of you from the start of this relationship." He let out an exasperated sigh, lowering his tone back to normal. "I'm here for you- you can get through this."

"We're here-"

"For you all-"

"Too!" SakuInoTen came up behind Shikamaru.

"And don't forget us!" Naruto said obnoxiously loud, which I truly didn't mind at this moment.

"Ye-yeah, Sasuke," Hinata sniffled, rubbing her reddened eyes, "we're he-here for you all, too."

The atmosphere was lightened with the support I had around the room. My body seized it's shaking, and I sat up straight- placing a hand behind my stiffened neck. "Thank you all guys."

"Neji is going to be fine," Shikamaru assured, patting my tensed shoulder with a smile, "and the baby, too."

Xxx

Two hours had passed. Hinata was cuddled closely to Naruto, soundly sleeping in his arms. SakuInoTen were curled into each other on the long, leather couch of the waiting room. Shikamaru was sleeping as well, stretched out between his chair and the coffee table his feet still rested on. I, however, was still up- patiently awaiting word from Dr. Hatake or Temari.

My eyes were growing heavy, and my fingers were becoming stiff since I had been twiddling them for the entire time. _What is taking so long,_ I asked myself looking irritated at the clock above the operating room doors. _What could they be possibly doing-_

I was interrupted from my thoughts as Dr. Hatake pushed through the double white doors of the OR. I abruptly jumped to my feet, walking to meet him half way in the lobby. "How did it go?" I asked impatiently, my heart's pace speeding up once again.

"The surgery went well. Your baby girl is healthy and breathing just fine," he answered.

"Baby…girl?" My heart began to flutter and a smile began to creep its way onto my face. "A baby girl! Hot damn! I got my baby girl," I exclaimed, quickly hushing myself to not wake the others. I wanted the moment to be between myself and Ne- "wait, how is Neji? Is he okay?"

Dr. Hatake's reluctance to answer the question as he reached a compassionate hand toward to my shoulder quickly unsettled my nerves. My breath hitched, my eyes completely widened, and I swear my heart stopped as I was met with those words-

"_I'm afraid he's not going to make it."_

**TBC…**

**Your opinion wants to be read.**


	6. Chapter 5

Chapter 5.

xxx

"_Wha-what the hell do you mean he's not going to make it?!"_

"_Mr. Uchiha, his body was-"_

"_I don't care what his body was doing! You said he would be fine after the baby was removed!"_

"_I understand that, but if I can recall, I remember stating-"_

"_Where is he?!"_

"_Mr. Uchiha, please calm down-"_

"_Where is he Hatake!" he asked loud enough to awaken the entourage of friends behind him._

"_Mr. Uchiha, I'm-"_

_Before the silver haired doctor could finish his sentence, the other man pushed past him through the swinging white doors leading to the hospital. His pace was fast, and as he pushed the doors open, they slammed against the walls loudly, echoing throughout the brightly lit white halls. He was swiftly brushing past nurses guiding patients to their rooms, earning "hey" and "watch it" as continued to stroll. He heard the footsteps of his friends closing in behind him, but his focus was fixated on finding his husband._

_Doors flung open as he searched through rooms, unsure of which one held his love. He intruded on some patients- shrills and yelps were heard after the door was closed behind him. _

"_Where the hell is he?" He thought to himself as he heard Shikamaru and Naruto calling for him to wait up. He sped his walking to a run, turning the corner and ditching the two in pursuit of him. He continued to check rooms- nurses threatened to call security, but still he went on with his search. His breathing became heavy, and his heart began to throb as his frazzled nerves took him over._

"_Where the hell is he?!" he asked himself once again._

_Reaching the last door on the hall, he read the name "Uchiha" placed on the label outside. Why hadn't he thought to look at the labels of the other doors was neither here nor there for him. He placed his hand on the cold silver nob and twisted, softly pushing into the room. The lights were off; the only lighting in the room came from the sun shining though the half covered windows. _

"_N-neji?" he called quietly, coming from behind a wall into the full room. He first noticed Temari standing in front of the hospital bed- her back was towards him; her left arm was folded around her chest and her right hand was placed on her forehead, he could tell. She was sniffling, and at the thought of it, he could tell she had been-_

"_What's wrong?" he asked the woman, startling her from behind._

"_I'm so sorry, Sasuke" she responded, not facing him as she swept the back of her hand across her eyes._

"_Wh-why?" he asked, and as response, she moved from in front of the bed- his worst fear became reality._

_There was his beautiful husband. His radiant creamy skin was almost white. His luminous long, chocolate brown locks were dull in color having lost their luster. The skin of his lips was cracked- his mouth was opened for a tube that was shoved into his throat to keep him breathing. He was hooked up to a monitor- the beeping was slow, yet steady as his heart was pressing to keep beating. _

_He walked over to his husband's side, placing his hand onto the motionless man's flattened stomach. He earned no flinch, even as he trailed his fingers along the rigid line of stitches from the incision of the cesarean. _

"_Neji?" he called, getting no response. _

_He removed his hand from his stomach and placed his love's hand in his own. Pulling the hand up to place a tender kiss to it, it slipped from his own as the weakened arm attached helplessly fell back to the side of the man it belonged to._

_Tears began to fill the corners of his eyes as he bit his bottom lip looking upon his husband's face. "Neji" he tried again, once again receiving nothing. _

"_Neji?" a tear managed to escape as he kneeled down next to the bed, placing his hand upon a chilled cheek._

"_Neji, please answer me," a few more thin streams of tears fell staining his cheeks. He placed a hand on the lifeless man's shoulder, giving a few lights shakes._

"_Neji, come on, babe…" he began to shake a little harder as he continued to get no response. "Babe, please don't do this to me; I need you!"_

_His voice began to rise as he stood up, placing both hands atop Neji's shoulders and frantically shaking him. "Neji, please! Please wake up! I can't do this without you!"_

_The words poured from his lips as he spoke through gritted teeth and swollen eyes; the tears were flowing heavily, uncontrollably as he desperately tried to reach his love. _

"_Why are you not responding Neji, please!"_

"_Sasuke!" Naruto called as he and Shikamaru had finally found their friend. They rapidly rushed to him- Shikamaru pulling him back from the bed as Naruto loosened the grip he had on the unresponsive man. _

_He struggled to get away from the spikey ponytailed man holding him, clawing at the hands around his waist. "Let me go! I need to wake him up!"_

_Shikamaru grit his teeth, trying to keep the dominance as his hands were being scratched hard enough where there was blood. "Sasuke" he breathed, "Neji is not with us right now. You know that."_

"_It's not true!" Sasuke protested still fighting to get to his love's side as Naruto stepped in front of him, enclosing his muscular arms around him. "Get off me!" he spat out._

"_No, Sasuke," Naruto responded, cradling the head of raven tendrils into his chest. "Just stop."_

_He loosened his grip on the hands around his waist, stopping his fighting with the man behind him. His arms fell helplessly to his side as the flood gates opened through his eyes._

_He sniffled frequently; his tightly closed eyes couldn't force back the steady flow they were releasing. He brought his hands up to Naruto's chest, clenching at the shirt he was staining with his own tears. _

_Naruto rubbed his fingers through the soft raven hairs upon the man he was holding's head. Shikamaru loosened his arms around the other man's waist to a comforting hold- placing his head upon the shoulder in front of him and letting out a long sigh._

_The women left behind had finally caught up, entering the room with Dr. Hatake and four simultaneous gasps were released upon the sight of the man in the bed. _

_Hinata began to break down at seeing her cousin in such critical condition, and the three women turned to and hugged her wanting to provide comfort._

_He sniffed once again, lifting his head from his friend's chest, and viewing over Naruto's shoulder, he looked to his husband once again._

"_I'm sorry this had to happen" Kakashi proclaimed, walking over to the trio of men._

_Hearing the words come from the doctor's mouth while looking at Neji, something snapped within him; his eyebrows wrinkled and his body tensed as his fist clenched at his side. "This is YOUR FAULT!" he shot a glare at Kakashi._

_Noticing the sudden change in his body, Shikamaru and Naruto held him tightly once again- holding him back from charging at Dr. Hatake._

_He struggled to get free from their grip- managing to get one hand to Shikamaru's chest and the other to Naruto's face pushing with great force._

"_I can't hold him," Naruto noted as he pushed to keep his arms around Sasuke._

"_YOU BITCH! YOU FUCKING LIED TO ME! AND YOU-" he shot his glance towards Temari, "I thought you said everything was going to be fine! We trusted you!"_

_Shaking where she stood at the undertone of the angry Uchiha's voice, Temari fumbled for the right words. "M-m-mr. Uchiha," she stuttered, "the ba-baby is he-healthy as I pr-pr-pr-"_

"_What about my fucking husband! He's dead! You're partly to blame for this!"_

_Forgetting his mission, Shikamaru removed himself from behind the raven haired man as his own anger was rising. "Don't fucking talk to her like that!" he stood in front of the man, defending his fiancé. "You don't know how much she has cared for you, Neji, and that baby! It was HER priority to make sure everything went well!"_

"_Well she damn sure failed!" he barked back, slipping himself from Naruto's arms to go towards Shikamaru, who had moved to hold a fear stricken Temari, and Kakashi as Naruto still managed to enclose his arms around the man's waist._

"_Dr. Hatake" Naruto panted as his strength to hold the raging man was giving out, "I think you need to do something, and quick!"_

"_I need a sedative brought to room 216" Dr. Hatake called on his walkie._

_Within a few seconds, an assistant came with a tray that held a syringe. Kakashi took the syringe and walked towards the raven and blonde haired males. _

"_You're not sticking me with shit!"_

"_Mr. Uchiha, I need you to calm down" he spoke before getting a glob of spit shot towards his face. Letting out a heavy sigh wiping the glob from his face, Kakashi signaled for the assistant to take the raven down. _

_The assistant rushed to towards the raven with a knee to his back, bringing him to meet the cold slick floor of the room. He held the man's arm back so if a struggle was to ensue, the arm could be seriously injured._

"_You bastard!" Naruto yelled out at the sight, "you're going to hurt him!"_

"_As long as Mr. Uchiha doesn't put up a fight," Kakashi said smoothly as he walked over to the man on the floor, "everything will be fine."_

_He tried to struggle and protest, but at the feel of a needle pricking through the arm held hostage, he felt himself calm down til he was drifting off- the blurred sight of the quartet of women looking on in fright, the couple off to the side, the tall silver haired man with the syringe, and his blonde haired friend kneeling down and calling his name was finally blacked out._

That was nine days ago. The memories played in his head as if it were a nightmare as he sat next to the opened window of his partner's hospital room. Heavy bags were placed beneath his narrowed eyes and his jaw was clenched. He was leaned back in his chair; a hand was placed to his throbbing forehead while the other was propped on the arm of the chair- a burning white stick sat in between his long fingers. He brought the cigarette between his lips, drawing a long pull of it, and removing it. He held the smoke in his lungs for a few extra seconds, and then allowed a thinned stream to escape as he ashed the cigarette.

The hand on his forehead was brought downward until his fingertips met his lips; he began to bite at the middle fingernail- his gaze was fixated on the wall in front of him. The constant beeping of the heart monitor along with the hissing sound of the breathing machine his comatose husband was hooked up to filled the room. There was distant chattering in the halls and the occasional call over the intercom for a doctor's assistance also added to the background noise.

Putting the cigarette out in the ash tray on the small table beside him, Sasuke lay his head back placing a hand behind his neck. "Day fucking nine" he thought to himself. "Day mother fucking nine and he has shown no sign of response." He let out an exasperated sigh. "I can't take this shit anymore."

Just as he began to close his eyes, there was a knock at the door. "Sasuke" a familiar raspy voice called from behind, "are you in there?"

He lifted his head from the back of the couch, leaning forward so his elbows were propped on his thighs to hold his weakened upper body up. His forearms hung in-between his legs and his face was pointed down towards the floor. "Yeah…" he pasued, "I'm in here."

"Can I come in?"

"Yeah."

The door pushed open revealing a tall shadow on the floor. Naruto peeked his head from behind the door, pulling the rest of his body inwards before shutting the door behind him. "How you holding up?" he asked, walking towards the raven haired male.

Sasuke lifted his head from looking towards the floor to his long time best friend. He noticed the other man was holding a bouquet of two dozen lavender roses. "Those are pretty," he complimented as Naruto placed them along the several other bouquets at Neji's bedside.

"Yeah, Hinata says lavender is a comforting color, and the aroma is a soothing one," Naruto spoke moving in front of Sasuke. "You didn't answer my question though."

"Hn," Sasuke scoffed, looking into the cerulean orbs of his friend. "How does it look like I'm holding up?" he asked rhetorically. He wore a black hoodie and black sweatpants to symbolize his dark mood over the past week and a half. The smell of cigarettes was heavily scented on his clothes. He looked like he hadn't slept in weeks and his skin was almost ghostly in color.

Naruto's lips curved downwards at his unsightly friend. "When was the last time you ate?"

"I don't know" Sasuke gave in response. "Maybe three days ago."

"Maybe?!" Naruto's voice heightened. "When's the last time you slept?!"

Sasuke shrugged his shoulders, sitting back in his chair as he grabbed another cigarette from the opened pack. Placing it in between his lips and pulling his lighter from his pocket, he flicked the switch- lighting the small cylinder. He took another long pull before removing it, turning his head towards the opened window so the smoke would fill the room. "I haven't really slept since that night" he finally answered, not looking towards his friend.

Naruto's fist clenched at his side and his nostrils flared at his nonchalant friend. "Sasuke, enough is enough! Just because Neji is in a comatose state does not mean you are supposed to let yourself go to shit!"

"Naruto," Sasuke started after releasing another stream of smoke, "I really don't want to talk about this right now."

"Well unfortunately for you, I'm not going to just leave it alone," Naruto yelled, stepping closer to his stubborn friend. "Come on, Sasuke, you have got to bounce back from this!"

Sasuke closed his eyes as his fingers began to crush the middle of the burning cigarette. He clenched his jaw even more, holding back vicious words he wanted to unleash on his friend who was currently aggravating him.

"Don't ignore me, Sasuke! What about your baby?! Mind you, you haven't seen her since she was born-"

"Will you just shut the fuck up, Naruto!" Sasuke snapped, jumping up from his seat earning widened eyes from the golden haired man in front of him. The cigarette put itself out from the wind hitting it as it fell to the floor accompanying the six emptied cartons that lay around the chair. "For heaven's fucking sake just shut up!" he yelled- his reddened eyes peering into those of his friend.

"I'm sorry-"

"Save the bullshit, Naruto!" Sasuke placed a hand up, looking towards the window again. "I understand I can't just go days without eating, but I do. I understand I can't function properly without sleep, but I do," he continued as he closed his eyes tightly trying to force back liquid- his head began to pound with heavily. "I- I can't deal with this, Naruto. My fucking heart is aching. My head has been throbbing for the past week, and he-" he opens his eyes and turns his head towards the still man lying in the bed, "he still just lays there, and it's my fault. I don't deserve to be okay after what I've done to him."

Naruto moved towards his friend whose body was tensing upon the haunting memories of nine nights ago plaguing his mind. He held his arms up, circling them around the shorter man's waist as he, once again, broke down.

Sasuke buried his head into Naruto's chest, once again drenching his shirt with his steadily flowing tears. "I feel…I feel myself-" before he could finish his sentence, Sasuke's knees became weak and his eyes rolled into the back of his head as he temporarily lost consciousness.

As his body began to fall to the floor, Naruto quickly dipped down- placing a hand behind Sasuke's neck and the other under his armpit to keep him from hitting the floor too hard.

His eyes flittered open moments later as he regained consciousness. "Wh-what happened?" he asked, taking in the smell of Naruto's cologne.

"Come on" the golden haired man stood up, placing Sasuke's arm around his shoulder and holding him up.

"Wh-where are we going?" Sasuke questioned quietly- his eyes half opened.

"We're getting away from this hospital for a while."

Hearing the words, Sasuke's eyes shot open and he pushed himself from the taller man. "The hell I am going anywhere! I'm staying here beside him; what if he wakes up?"

Placing his hands onto his face and dragging them down his scarred cheeks, Naruto let out an aggravated sigh. "Sasuke, I be damned if I lose both of you; you need food."

"I'm NOT leaving this room, Naruto!" Sasuke barked back.

"You need fucking sleep, Sasuke!" Naruto yelled back, grabbing one of Sasuke's arms which was pulled back in defense. "What about the baby?! You're all she has left of parents; why are you doing this to yourself?!"

"I don't care about that right now! I don't deserve to be her parent! I'm the reason her father is dying!"

"You're her father, too!" Naruto was beyond frustrated with dealing with his friend. "Neji's body was put through so much stress for her to come into the world and be parentless! Why are you being so fucking selfish?!"

"I'm not being selfish! I don't…I can't…" he couldn't find the right words as he sat back into his seat, propping his elbows onto his thighs and burying his face into his palms. The sniffles began again as more tears pushed themselves through, running along his forearms. "I can't face her right now. I feel so guilty."

Naruto kneeled on his knees in front of Sasuke, removing the raven haired man's hands from his face and placing his own against the slick pale cheeks. He brought the leaking onyx eyes to meet his own, and when Sasuke's tried to look away, he pulled his eyes back to him.

"Sasuke," he spoke softly, moving one hand to brush straight bangs away, "it's not your fault, love."

"Yes it is," his voice broke as he took big sniffled inhales in between. "I killed-"

Naruto shushed him, placing a finger over his chapped lip. "Don't even speak on it, please." Moving the hand still on Sasuke's cheek, Naruto moved it behind the raven's neck, rubbing in soothing circular motions. "I'm really worried about you, Sasuke. I really just want you to be okay, not only for the baby's sake, but your own."

Sasuke looked towards Neji. "I can't- I can't do this without him."

Naruto pulled Sasuke's face back to him and their noses met in the middle. Naruto placed his forehead to the man in front of him and let out another sigh against his lips. "Yes, you can. You're a strong, intelligent, and loving male…" he paused, both males closing their eyes as their breaths simultaneously ghosted over each other's lips. "I know you can do it."

Sasuke pulled himself back, looking at the blue eyed male who was smiling at him. "You really think I can?"

Naruto nodded in agreement. "Yeah, but-" as he continued his sentence, Sasuke's stomach growled audibly causing his cheeks to turn a bright red, "you need to take care of yourself first."

"Heh," Sasuke lightly chuckled. "I guess you're right." He placed his arms around the other man's neck, placing his chin atop the broad shoulder. "Thanks, Naruto."

Placing his toned arms around Sasuke's waist and pulling him from his sit in the chair, Naruto drew Sasuke flush against his body- embracing him for as long as he could. "You're more than welcome."

Xxx

Day fourteen and Neji still showed no sign of waking from his comatose state. Sasuke sat beside him on the bed, brushing the long tendrils of his brunette love who looked as if he was in a deep slumber.

"_Mr. Uchiha," Kakashi spoke to a semi rested Sasuke. "I have some bad news." Sasuke looked on in dismay, awaiting the words of the silver haired doctor. "If Neji doesn't respond by the end of the week, I'm afraid we're going to have to let him go." _

_Sasuke's breath hitched. He placed a hand to his chest as he felt his heart breaking. "We…we can't just give up on him!"_

"_Mr. Uchiha, I'm sorry, but at this point, there is nothing more we can do." Kakashi moved to where Sasuke stood still, slightly shaking. He placed a hand to his shoulder, looking towards the man lying still in the bed. "I understand you don't want to lose him, but keeping him on these machines and you staying at his bedside everyday are going to continue to hurt you. I suggest you think about your daughter and the life you two can have together." He removed his hand, turning on his heels to exit. "She has many years ahead of her; there is no need in having her lose both her parents."_

That was day twelve. The words still rung in his ears as he continued to brush the long hair sprawled underneath his love._ Even on the verge of death, you're still beautiful_ he thought to himself unknowingly stopping his motions to gaze at his sleeping beauty. He leaned forward and placed his lips to Neji's forehead, leaving his lips in place as he inhaled the scent of Neji's hair sharply. _Still smells like orchids_ he noted, pulling himself away to look in awe at slender male. _I wonder if she looks like you; maybe she can-_

A push of the door stole him from his thoughts as he glared at the intruder. His eyes rolled and he placed the wooden hairbrush at the side of Neji's bed, standing to his feet and facing the direction of the uninvited guest.

"Look what the cat drug in," he said sarcastically as the older Uchiha walked further into the room, closing the door behind him.

He was silent, ignoring his younger brother's comment as his eyes fell to the unmoving male hooked up to machines. He strode towards the side of the bed Sasuke wasn't standing on- his eyes sympathetic, bringing his hand to stroke the soft hair atop Neji's head.

"How long has he been in this state?" Itachi asked Sasuke, still not breaking his eyes from the ghostly looking male.

"Two weeks," Sasuke answered, folding his arms across his chest looking towards the window.

"And why didn't you call me?" the older Uchiha questioned, sliding a long slender finger down Neji's icy cheek.

Sasuke snorted, looking towards his older brother with a raised brow. "For what, Itachi? So you could tell me how much of a failure I am at being Neji's partner again?"

Itachi's finger paused, and he lifted his head slightly- his narrowed obsidian orbs intensely glaring at his younger brother. "I have no concern for your foolishness right now. It is beyond insignificant to me. I thought I requested to know when your unborn child had arrived."

Sasuke scoffed as his brother's "demand" amused him. "Yeah, who cares what you want. You wanted me to take on the business after you. You wanted me to stay in the house next to you. You wanted me to go to your and father's university. Oh, and let's not forget the big one- you wanted me to give Neji up for you!" He let of a huge laugh, the lack of sleep still causing him to be a little cynical. "Well guess what, Itachi motherfucking Uchiha, I don't give a rat's ass what you want!"

"And that is why I called your bitch ass childish and selfish!" Sasuke halted in his spot, and his lips went into a thin line as his eyes widened from his older brother's outburst. "I just said, I don't care about any of that yet you STILL try to make this about you!"

Sasuke threw his arms into the air, turning to head for his seat, pulling a cigarette from the carton in his pocket. Putting it to his lips and beginning to light it, he found it suddenly swatted from between his lips by his brother. "What are you doing?" Sasuke went to swipe his hand at Itachi who swiftly grabbed his wrist.

"Since when have you started smoking?"

"Since my nerves have been too damn shot to deal with all of this!"

Itachi loosened his grip on Sasuke's wrist and sat upon the coffee table in front of him. "Your nerves are shot over Neji's current state so you go to cigarettes that could kill you even quicker?"

"There you go fucking reprimanding me again! Itachi, I'm not a child anymore!" Sasuke threw his head back, clenching his jaw.

"I'm not trying to scold you, Sasu-"

Sasuke sat forward, once again throwing his arms into the air as he yelled. "Yes, the hell you are! You did this two months ago the night you came to 'visit', leaving me there feeling like shit about myself, like I just don't give a shit about anyone else in the world."

"Well what do you expect me to think when I find a guy I still might be in love with pregnant and crying over harsh words spoken towards him from someone who's supposed to love him?!" Itachi's voice rose as he continued, "I wish you would have respected my relationship with Neji instead of barging in, stealing him away, and then calling me jealous after the fact!"

Sasuke looked quizzing onto his older brother. "Wait- you…I…love?"

Itachi folded his arms across his chest, letting out an annoyed sigh. "I was planning to ask Neji to marry me back then, Sasuke," he spoke, earning a shocked expression to mar Sasuke's face, "but the night I planned to, he told me he was in love with my younger brother before I could even get my proposal out." Itachi looked towards the bed holding Neji as Sasuke hung his head in shame.

"I didn't know you all were that serious."

"Yeah, and you never bothered to ask either," Itachi looked towards Sasuke who was purposely trying to avoid meeting his gaze. "These past few years of you calling me jealous and the underlying hate when I come around or call…and I'm the one who was hurting. That's why I called you selfish- you didn't even bother to acknowledge the wrong you had been doing to your older brother- the one who took care of you when our parent's died, paid for your tuition to attend a school outside of the Uchiha alumni without protest, paid for your car, the house you now live in, and the beautiful wedding ceremony held for you and Neji." Sasuke began to sink into a pit of anguish as the words poured from his brother's parted lips, realizing the tone of hurt in his voice. "I even helped you when your relationship was in danger with Neji that one year, footing the bill for two college tuitions at once, and through it all, I never even got a thank you."

Sasuke slumped back into his seat as his head still hung low. _Dammit _he thought silently. _Here this shit is again; he always makes me feel bad._

He was broken from his thoughts when a warmed hand found itself on top his shoulder. His eyes ran along the arm the hand was attached to up to the face of Itachi who was looking compassionately towards him.

"Don't worry about it, Sasuke. I forgive you." A small smirk graced Itachi's face. Sasuke smirked back, leaning forward to hug his older brother who openly accepted and hugged back. This was the first time in three years the two had shared a Kodak moment.

Pulling back from the hug, Itachi randomly broke out, "she looks just like you, you know?"

"Huh? How did you-"

"I went by your house," Itachi explained, "I had been hearing around town that a baby had been born, and I instantly thought of you two. I went to your house, and Neji's cousin- Hinata, I believe is her name, opened the door cradling the child in her arms. She says you haven't seen her yet?"

Sasuke instantly looked away from his brother towards the opened window. The cool air blew through, tickling his nostrils as he thought about his newborn daughter. "I haven't…"

"Sasuke, you can't possibly be blaming the child for what's happened."

"I'm not," Sasuke spoke sternly. "I just- I blame myself whole heartedly for what's happened. That's why I've been sitting here…" he paused, twiddling his thumbs, "ruining myself wishing I had been in Neji's position. You were right-"

"No, I wasn't" Itachi interrupted, but received a hand held up requesting his silence from Sasuke.

"No, you were right. I had been selfish. I hadn't taken Neji's concern seriously; you could tell by how I always brushed them off instead of actively comforting him. Why am I able to live healthy while he has suffered and is now on his dying breath?" Sasuke stop twiddling his thumbs, instead placing a fist into his other palm in frustration from the situation. "At least if the child was a boy, Neji would have gotten something he wanted from this experience."

"Neji did get something he wanted," Itachi chimed in, moving himself from the table to sit on the arm of the chair next to his brother. "He wanted to make you happy, and he did, right? He wanted to give you a healthy child and he did- a beautiful healthy baby girl who looks just like you." He placed his hands atop Sasuke's shoulders, gently squeezing them. "You've got someone to live for, someone to provide and protect, and she's going to grow up to be so stunning, you're going to be chasing boys off left and right."

Sasuke lightly chuckled at the thought as a smile began creep onto his lips. "I understand he's not conscious right now," Itachi continued to speak, "but how do you think he would feel knowing he could give you what you always wanted?"

_A baby girl…_a weak voice spoke breathily in the distance. _Heh, I guess I am the perfect one for you…._

**TBC.**

**A/N: First of all- I am so sorry for leaving off where I did last chapter! I didn't mean to do it (well, I did for suspense, hehe.) Also, I am so sorry for the delay of an update! I really had to sit back and put a lot of thought into this chapter. **

**Upon wrecking my brain and writing this chapter, I decided…-drum roll- I will be writing a prequel AND sequel to this story! How Neji and Sasuke came to be, the NaruSasu college years, Itachi and Neji's relationship, and Sasuke ****(and ****Neji's?) life through parenthood! I am so anxious to start, but that won't be happening until I finish this and another story I'm working on (A Beautiful Mess).**

**My hope is that those who have followed and favorited this story will want to do so for the others that go along with this. **

**Anywho, I really hope you all enjoyed this chapter, and, as always:**

**YOUR OPINION WANTS TO BE READ!**


	7. Chapter 6

Chapter 6.

xxx

**(Sasuke's POV)**

I heard a voice, faint and in the distance speak. My eyes widened, and my heart began to flutter at its raspy tone.

_Could it be?_

I removed Itachi's hand from my shoulder, slowly bringing myself to my feet- my moves were stiff. My hand started to shake at my side subtly- a single tear brought itself to fill the corner of my eye.

_It's really?_

Turning my head, the rest of my body following slowly towards the occupied bed; my eyes softened. The droplet managed to roll down my cheek as my lips curled upward. "Is it really…"

"Hi, Sasuke."

A wave of emotions hit me as I was greeted with the weakened smile my husband gave me. His dazzling silver irises were wet as they looked in my direction. His skin was still pale, but the sun's vibrant rays coated him in an angelic like glow.

"Neji…" I paused, hesitantly walking towards him. Reaching out a hand upon meeting his bedside, I placed it onto his cheek warily- unsure if this were only a fantasy from my lack of sleep.

Warmth had crept into his flesh again, and upon the feel of my chilled fingers, he flinched- his lips moving from their curved thin state into a pout.

"Ow, your hands are cold, Sasuke" he responded moving his head to the side to break away from my touch.

More tears pushed themselves through as my heart's pounding was calmed; butterflies flapped around in my stomach and I felt myself fall to my knees- grabbing the closest hand to me at his side and pulling it to my lips. "You're really here…" my voice began to crack as my composure broke.

"I'll leave you two to have your moment," Itachi stood up, excusing himself from the room as I came in contact with Neji. "Sasuke, call me later, okay?" he asked rhetorically, exiting the room and closing the door behind him.

My attention never broke away from the man I loved in front of me. The tube was still placed in his mouth, but he had seemed to be breathing on his own now. "I can't believe you're really alive…I-I…" I stuttered, gazing into those mesmerizing eyes as my brain tried to piece together the event unfolding in front of me.

"You what?" he asked me, and in that moment- I felt my emotions flood.

"I'm so sorry, Neji!" I sobbed, burying my face in is chest- the hand I still held placed onto my chest. "I never meant to put you through this! I was selfish," the sheets of his bed stained with my tears as I poured myself to him. The past two weeks had been rough; the guilt I harbored of sending my husband through this ate away at my very soul, and I felt I shouldn't live. How would I be able to continue knowing I guided my husband into his passing? How would I be able to care for and raise a child I forced him to carry? I felt horrible. I felt weak. I felt like I wasn't a man.

As I continued to sob on him, Neji raised his other hand placing his slender fingers into my ebony locks- sliding them through the straightened tendrils repetitively. He moved his fingers down the back of my neck and brought them forward to trace along my jaw. Meeting my chin, he placed it between his index and thumb- lifting my head up to meet his look.

I grit my teeth. The whites of my eyes were red, and I felt like I shouldn't be able to look at him- I wasn't worthy of peering at his beautiful features that- because of me- looked feeble.

"I want you to let this go," he spoke quietly to me, and my eyes enlarged. How was he forgiving me so easily? Why wasn't he trying to make me pay for what I had put him through? He had almost lost his life at my selfishness and negligence towards his feelings, and before I could ask, he continued, "this is not your fault. I am the one who chose to carry the child knowing there were risks. I was the one who chose to be selfless for my husband's happiness. And all the while," he paused, his lips gracing me with that bright smile of his, no matter how dry they were at the moment from his fourteen day coma, "I was the one who chose to be selfish in the fact that I wanted a family of my own. Do not hold yourself accountable for this, Sasuke."

His words were the perfect remedy for my aching heart. They smoothed over the cracks, soothing the broken parts with a warm comfort. I leaned my forehead on his, sniffling as the tears receded. He was really here with me- his breath was warm, ghosting over my lips and he smelled of orchids, just like the shampoo he had used two weeks ago. I closed my eyes, taking in his scent- breathing him in as this was the first time since that night I felt comfortable enough to be this close to him.

A sudden burst through the door, and I turned my head towards it (not moving away from Neji, of course) to see a teary eyed Temari halted in her tracks- looking on with panicked eyes as if she had seen a ghost.

"Neji," she spoke softly, bringing her smaller hands up over her lips- the tears fell down her cheeks. "You've really recovered?"

Neji's chuckled softly slightly couching around the tube in his throat. "I guess I wasn't supposed to make it, huh?"

Before Temari could respond, Kakashi entered the room- a smile gracing his face yet unseen do to the face mask he dawned. "I guess Itachi was right; it's good to see you are with is, Mr. Uchiha…Uchiha being you, Neji."

Neji tried to respond, but the tube in his throat caused him to cough and he winced from discomfort.

"Lets take the tube out your throat; I trust you can breathe just fine now," Kakashi stated, sauntering over to us two. Reaching the bedside, he dug in his pocket pulling two white gloves out and drawing them over his hands. He then leaned over Neji, placing a firm hand on the blue ribbed tube. "I want you to take a big inhale, and as you exhale, I'm going to pull this out. It may be a little uncomfortable," the silver haired doctor warned, "but you will feel much better afterwards."

Neji nodded in agreeance, and did as told. His chest rose significantly as he inhaled and upon letting his breath escape, Dr. Hatake pulled the long tube from his throat- my beautiful husband's body wriggling and tightly shutting his eyes as the tube was dislodged. He coughed heavily afterwards, dropping my hand and placing it to his throat- his fingers making slight circular motions in attempts to massage the irritated spot.

"Thank you, Dr. Hatake," Neji's voice came out even raspier as Kakashi wrapped the tube around the machine and placed his hands upon the handle to roll it out.

"You are very welcome, Mr. Uchiha. Temari will check your vitals to make sure you have stabilized. You won't be able to leave for about three days, however; we want to keep you here for monitoring and make sure you are, in fact, recovering properly." And with that, Kakashi proceeded to roll the breathing machine out of the room allowing Temari to take his place.

"Alright, lets check you out," she told Neji, placing her delicate hands in her white gloves and bringing the stethoscope around her neck to her ears. She checked his heartbeat placing the cold circular metal plate to his chest earning Neji's flinch at the feeling. Next was his pulse, and she gave a nod of approval.

"What is your name?" she asked him, moving the stethoscope back around her neck and placing her arms across her chest.

"Neji Uchiha."

"How old are you?"

"Twenty-three."

"Who is your husband?"

"Sasuke Uchiha."

"Why are you in the hospital?"

"I was preg- wait, where is the baby?!" Neji suddenly shouted, abruptly sitting up; the jolt of pain from his stitches pulling stung him causing him to fall back down to the bed, clenching at his tightened abdomen as he shut his eyes forcefully, inhaling through gritted teeth.

"Easy, Neji!" Temari placed a hand to the stitched line, rubbing gently in attempt to soothe the taut muscles. "You're going to cause them to open. You aren't to sit up fully on your own until tomorrow."

Neji let out a heavy exhale, opening his eyes to stare blankly at the ceiling. He relaxed a bit at Temari's softened warmed hands massaging him. "Where is she?"

"She's with Hinata," I finally spoke, moving my hand to take place of Temari's to relive my husband of his pain. "I asked for her to care for the baby after she was born."

"Why- why isn't she with you?" he asked me, confusion ever present in his eyes; his voice became shaky.

"I…"I hesitated, biting my bottom lip afraid of his reaction after telling my reason. "I decided to stay here with you until you woke up, because I couldn't..."

"You couldn't what?" he interrupted me; his tone became demanding as his brow rose. My hand seized it's movement, and I became extremely nervous. _Think Sasuke, think…what should you tell him?_ My mind raced as I searched for an answer.

"I couldn't…" _shit_, I began to bite harder into my bottom lip as I shifted in my seat. Neji was looking onto me impatiently awaiting the excuse I was trying so desperately to find. He had told me to let the guilt of his near death go; I didn't want to reveal that to be my reason. I didn't want him to think I blamed our precious new daughter for his death. I could have told him otherwise, yes, but for the thought to even come in his mind- I knew it would pain him. It would be as if he carried the child for no reason, and that was not the case.

"Sasuke, I'm waiting." By now, Temari had exited the room giving us a private moment, and there was no distraction between the both of us. His eyes began to pierce through me, and I felt myself become uneasy. _Just say it Sasuke_ my subconscious mind egged me on, _he'll understand- I promise. _"Sasuke!"

"I couldn't face her because carrying her damn near killed you!" I blurted out.

"You blamed our daughter for my almost dying?!"

_See, this is exactly why I didn't want to say that._ "No! no, of course not! I couldn't face her because I felt as if I forced you to carry her, ignoring your and Dr. Hatake's concerns. I felt selfish, especially when it was relayed to me that our child was in fact a girl, the gender I expressed I wanted. How could I honestly face our child knowing that her father, probably the better father, had died from having her?!"

Neji's lips thinned as he pursed them, and he brought himself up- propping up on his elbows as his eyes narrowed at me. "You mean to tell me I carried a child, straining my body for nine months, pushing myself through hell for the sake of giving you a family just for you to disregard seeing her during her first weeks of life?"

With that question, everything with my logic at that moment made no sense. Naruto and Itachi had been right; my whole outlook on the situation was completely wrong. Everything Neji had been through would have been in vain…has been in vain. I hadn't been blaming myself for this unfortunate situation the entire time; I had been blaming my daughter- the daughter I had so passionately spoke about to Neji during his pregnancy. It wasn't in the form of words…no, I would never have spoken it against her as she was an infant, but my actions said otherwise. I thought my selfishness had ended as I sat by Neji's side every day for the past two weeks, but the truth- I had been scared to be a parent without Neji.

Why had I been scared? I had been afraid to live every day watching my daughter grow and in the back of my mind think about the man that had been killed...the man I had spent the last six years of my life with...the man I loved to the moon and back...my husband had died bringing her into this world. I was afraid she would have been a heavy burden for me to carry for the rest of my life, and I honestly didn't want to live with that. This whole entire time…that was the real reason why, and at the moment I realized just how selfish I truly am.

My head hung low as I felt myself overcome with disgrace and remorse realizing my true feelings over the past few days. _What the hell kind of father am I?_ I asked myself, sniffling as liquid began to flow my closed eyelids once again.

"You look like you haven't slept in the last two weeks," Neji observed, "and your frame has become so frail like you haven't eaten either…and is that cigarettes I smell?"

I didn't answer. I already knew what he was thinking- _you were trying to kill yourself, weren't you_? And in fact, I think I was…

No, I know I was- in a desperate need to escape the harsh fate of living with my daughter without him. I couldn't lie to myself anymore, and I most definitely couldn't lie to Neji; he knew me all too well, just like I know him.

He didn't try to console me as I continued to stare at the floor, unable to meet his unforgiving gaze. Instead he just laid himself back against the flattened pillow that had encased his frame perfectly as his body was imprinted into it. He let out a heavy sigh and rolled away from me- the front side of his body facing in the opposite direction from my view.

_Welcome back, Neji…welcome back._

**TBC.**


	8. Chapter 7

Chapter 7.

xxx

_Yesterday didn't go at all as planned. Neji finally stabilizing and recovering was supposed to be the happiest day in my last fourteen days of what felt like torture, and it was at first until he found out I hadn't seen our daughter._

_I don't blame him at all for being upset with me. If I were to have gone through what he has and he acted like this while I was in a coma? I would probably be even more upset…but that's what I love about Neji- his kind heart. Although he hasn't spoken to me since yesterday afternoon, and every attempt I have made to do things for him he's purposely taken the harder route, like stomaching the awful cafeteria food instead of the meal I purchased for him from his favorite restaurant out of spite…or laying on that god awful mattress (if you even want to call it a mattress) of the hospital bed instead of the fluffed pillow I brought from the store, I still catch moments when he's trying to inconspicuously look at me- wearing a contemplative face as if he's thinking whether to talk to me or keep giving me the cold shoulder._

_His eyes are much softer when he looks at me that way; his eyebrows are less furrowed, and he nibbles at his bottom lip. I have also noticed he twiddles his thumbs, and if you look hard enough, you can see the thumps outside his shirt of his racing heart. He's absolutely adorable when he's trying to stay mad at me. (Sasuke chuckles to himself.) It truly looks as if he's going to crack from the anxiety of keeping his composure together- to not show that his feelings are wavering._

_Words can't express how happy I am Neji is actually okay and he will be able to parent with me; our daughter is going to need him…just as much as I will too…_

xxx

"Ahhh," Neji hissed, clenching at his stitched abdomen waking Sasuke from his nap in the chair.

"Are you okay?" the raven haired male asked, rubbing his eyes groggily- sitting himself up.

He received no response as Neji turned his head away from the other male still rubbing on his stomach. With a heavy sigh and pushing himself upward from the chair, Sasuke walked towards his stubborn husband- finding himself by his bedside and kneeling down.

"Neji," he called to the long hair male who was upright, wincing in pain. "What's wrong?"

Neji didn't answer, still looking away from his concerned husband.

"Neji," Sasuke tried again, "come on, love, tell me what's wrong?" He reached a hand to place it onto Neji's stomack, and it was swatted away upon contact. "Are you serious right now?"

Sasuke rose to his feet, walking to the other side of the bed where Neji's gaze was facing. Kneeling down beside him once again almost meeting his face, the recovering male turned his head away from his husband again- his long locks blocking his face from view.

"Oh, come on, Neji!" An irritated Sasuke reached upward, placing his fingers under Neji's jaw. He tried gently guiding the man's face towards him but was met with resistance. He used a little bit more force to turn Neji's head. The two men struggled against each other, and after a few more seconds of the battle for dominance, Sasuke's eyes grew wide as droplets splattered onto his pale skin.

He loosened his grip on Neji's jaw which was now tightened beneath his fingertips. "Neji" he softly spoke, gently stroking the underside of his husband's stiffened jaw. "Babe, can you please look at me?" And as he began to pull Neji's face towards him, the other man obliged meeting Sasuke with his tear stained face- his silver tinted irises shimmering as the pale moonlight peering into the room window glistened off his tears. His lips were perched, and his eyebrows were taut as his hand was still placed along the line of stitches on his stomach.

"Why- why are you crying, babe?" Sasuke asked concerned, moving his thumb under Neji's lids, rubbing his tears away, "do your stitches hurt?"

"No," a raspy voice broke as it came out choked from his throat, "not like you think they are."

"What does that mean?"

Neji moved his free hand up to Sasuke's, wrapping his slender fingers around the raven's palm and pulling it away from his face- placing it onto the bed afterwards and removing his own. He looked downward, moving an arm across his leaking eyes and sniffling; letting out an exhale, he looked back into the deep pools of onyx belonging to the other man once he felt his composure was regained.

"Yes, my stitches do hurt," he spoke, his voice coming out steadily this time, "and it hurts even more because of the realization that you haven't seen the cause of these stitches. The only reason why I feel this pain, and the reason this scar will forever mar my skin…you've neglected. It's as if…" he paused, looking towards the window as he gathered his thoughts, "it's as if, now, I have will have this for nothing. It's as if all my suffering and all my pain, the almost loss of my life has been in vain, and I did it all because I love you, Sasuke. I have wanted nothing more than to give you a fulfilling life as your spouse, and when I thought I would fail in one aspect- an important aspect- I physically didn't; I was able to give you a child. I was able to give you a daughter- the daughter you so passionately spoke about…but you've neglected her and that means I failed…I failed at making you happ-"

Neji's last word was interrupted with a sudden embrace from Sasuke. He hesitated, but the scent of Sasuke's raven silk tendrils tickled his nose…the warmth radiating off Sasuke's toned body as his muscles wrapped securely around his slender frame…the steady thump of his beating heart pulsing against his chest, he felt himself miss the feeling- the feeling of being this close to the man he loved. And this is why Neji could never stay mad at his husband for too long; he loved him far too much to shun him or hold any grudge or anger towards him. He wrapped his arms around Sasuke's torso, placing his hands onto his back and pulling him in closer as his nose nuzzled into the crook of his neck.

"I'm sorry, Neji," Sasuke breathed into Neji's orchid smelling locks, reaching his fingers into the thick mane and pulling them through letting the soft hairs slip between them. "I never meant to hurt you in such a way. I have appreciated you and have admired your strength of going through this process although I haven't voiced it. I have had my fears of losing you, but pushed them to the back of my mind to stay strong for you. And when I felt like I had lost you…when I thought I had lost you- my worst fear had come true." He pulled himself back to look at his beautiful husband as he continued to pour himself out to him. He brought his hand to cup Neji's cheek, pushing the strands of hair that framed his face behind his ear.

"I didn't know how to cope with losing you, and unfortunately, I took it out on our daughter. I was stupid, and never in a million years would I want to purposely hurt you. I really hope you can forgive me." Sasuke's gaze was apologetic as he awaited Neji's response. He moved his thumb in circular motions on the other man's cheek, the pad of his fingertip being tickled by the smooth skin it grazed over.

The two men stared into each other's eyes, lost in the swirling pool of onyx and shimmering whites. Their heads moved closer- their mouths slightly parted. A close of two sets of eyelids, they met in the middle- their lips collided in a passionate kiss.

Sasuke moved his arms around Neji's waist as the latter moved his around the former's neck. They pulled each other in close, reveling in the feel of their heated bodies giving warmth to each other.

The raven haired male moved himself upward, putting a knee onto the bed as he leaned his husband back onto it. Feeling Neji tense in fear his stitches would get bumped from the encounter, Sasuke breathed into his mouth, "I promise I won't hurt you," his lips curling upward in a small smirk not breaking the kiss.

"I don't…" Neji breathed in between touches of their lips, "I don't think I can do this in my current state."

The other man broke the kiss, looking into his husband's eyes sympathetically. "You want to stop?"

The man under him shook his head in agreement to his question, biting his bottom lip anticipating Sasuke's reaction; he was relieved when he received a smile and another crash of his lips. "That's fine, babe, but can I at least hold you?"

Neji moved further towards the edge of bed allowing Sasuke to maneuver behind him. The raven haired male placed his body flush against the man in front of him, wrapping an arm securely around his waist and burying his nose into the lengthy straightened locks. The other man placed his arm atop the one around his waist- sliding his fingers in between and locking them with his husband's.

"It's been a long time sense we've just cuddled with each other like this, huh?" Neji asked the man whisking off into sleep as he comfortably lay behind him.

"Yeah," Sasuke chuckled, breathing in the fresh scent of the lush tendrils, "that baby bump of yours made it rather difficult to do so. You would be so uncomfortable whenever I tried to snuggle up behind you. I almost forgot how perfectly your body fits into mine."

A soft smile graced the brunette male's face. "And I forgot how safe and loved I feel in yours," he noted, melding into the man behind him embrace.

The two lay perfectly fit together in the twin sized hospital bed. Their breathing matched each other's- inhaling and exhaling at the same pace. Their heartbeats were in tune, beating along in rhythm. Their legs were intertwined, and the body heat they shared kept constant warmth.

"Sasuke?" Neji asked, his eyes closed as he lingered in the feeling of closeness he was sharing with husband.

"Hm?"

"Do you think you're able to face her tomorrow? Have you given up your blame?"

Sasuke hugged Neji closer, taking a in a big inhale breaking their in-tune sequence. "Of course," he spoke as he let out the gathered breath gradually from his lungs, "I can do anything as long as I have you."

"Do you blame her anymore?"

The raven male shook his head. "No…" he paused, lifting his head up causing Neji to look towards him. Placing another kiss onto the man in front of him lips, he pulled back gazing into those alluring silver tinted eyes he loved so much, "I can only blame myself for my foolish thoughts and selfishness, and now that you have forgiven me, I can only hope she does the same."

xxx

It was noon on the third day since Neji's recovery. Sasuke was packing his two week overnight bag while his husband was getting his final checkup from Temari.

"Looks like you're ready to be discharged, Neji," Temari smiled, placing the stethoscope around her neck. "I trust that you will go home and take great care of the precious new baby girl of yours."

"I do plan to," Neji responded cheerfully to his former nurse.

"Light housework until your stitches have fully healed, and if you're feeling any extreme pain, don't be afraid to call me. I may not be your midwife anymore, but I do still care about you." Neji gave Temari a smile, and she leaned forward to embrace him in a hug. He thanked her, and when she pulled away, Temari turned on her heels walking towards the door to exit. Once she got behind the wall blocking her from Neji's view, she felt a strong hand come onto her shoulder.

Turning around, she was met with Sasuke's obsidian eyes- a remorseful look marring his face. "I wanted to-to…" he stuttered, his hands shaking at his side as he searched for the right words to express, "I wanted to apologize for how I acted towards you that night. I was in an emotional state, and I shouldn't have taken my anger out on you. You have been such a big help, and I feel like such a jerk for the nasty words I said to you, and-"

Sasuke's apology was silenced as Temari's delicate arms wrapped themselves around his shoulders. He hugged her back, smiling softly at her continuous kind gestures to him despite his actions towards her. "I forgive you. It was an emotional day for us all, and I didn't harbor anything against you." She pulled back from him, pulling his hand onto her own, placing her free hand atop his, "I was right along with you hoping that everything would be okay, and I'm more than thankful it has." She gave him a warm smile, receiving one in return. "Now go home and take care of that baby. She needs her fathers."

Dropping the hand, Temari continued her exit through the wooden door, closing it behind her. Sasuke walked over to Neji whose legs were hanging over the edge of the bed; his expression was pained as he tried to push himself up. "Here, let me help you," Sasuke offered, walking over to his husband's side and pulling him to a standing position. After pulling Neji's arm around his neck to support his weight, he reached down, picking the overnight bag up and looked towards his smiling husband. "You ready to go meet out new edition?"

Neji chuckled lightly, placing a kiss onto Sasuke's cheek. "I sure am."

xxx

After a twenty minute drive home, Sasuke and Neji finally reached the driveway of their seemingly forgotten home. Sasuke exited the car, moving over to the passenger's side and opening the door for his husband. Holding a hand out, he helped Neji get out the car, pulling his arm around his neck once again to support his weight. Closing the car door behind them, the two slowly trudged to the doorstep- stopping for a few seconds on the way for the pain of Neji's stiches to recede.

Reaching the door step and placing a hand onto the golden knob, Sasuke turned to Neji, noticing the long haired male had a slight tremor to him.

"You okay?" he asked nervously.

"Yeah," Neji shook himself from his worries, "I'm fine." And with that answer, Sasuke twisted the knob, pushing the door open and stepping him and Neji through the doorway.

"I thought Hinata was supposed to be here with the baby?" Neji asked concerned as he was met with the lights off throughout their entire home.

"Hm, I thought so, too-"

"SURPRISE!" A roar of shouts came as the light switch was flicked on, and people throughout the village magically appeared in front of them.

"What the-" Sasuke asked confused.

"Oh my goodness, oh my goodness!" the pink haired woman last seen two weeks stepped in front of the two men, giving them a large hug with one embrace. "How are you two?!"

"We've been wondering about you all this time!" The blonde one stepped up, giving them another hug.

"I'm okay now," Neji answered in the middle of hugging Ino.

"Move, Ino! I want my hug now!" Tenten spoke impatiently as the former prolonged her hold.

After allowing Tenten to have her moment, the two males walked further into their home, stopping to receive "congratulations", hugs, and handshakes from all the people invited to the gathering. Making his way to the couch, Sasuke helped Neji to sit down comfortably.

Sasuke noticed a familiar face next to the steps and decided to go talk with him as Neji was approached with random questions about his pregnancy, the delivery, and his heart wrenching recovery.

"Long time, no see, Shika," Sasuke greeted his long time coworker and best friend with a handshake. Shikamaru refused the hand, instead pulling his friend into another warm embrace.

"I've missed you, man, how are you?"

"I'm okay, now." Sasuke answered, stepping back once their hug was finished. "Hey, I wanted to say I'm sor-"

"Don't mention it," the spiky haired male held a hand up before placing it into his pocket. "Emotions were high that night; we were all on edge. I would have come see you while you were there, but I took over your work and got swamped. I barely got any sleep this entire time."

"But I didn't ask you to?"

"You didn't have to. As you best friend, I got you back," he gave a smirk to the now smirking man in front of him, holding up his fist.

Sasuke returned the pound to his coworker. "Who in the hell set all of this up?" he asked, noticing the trays of food, mass amount of people, gifts, and the several balloons placed around his living room.

"Well," Shikamaru started speaking, propping himself up against the banister of the stairs, "it was Itachi who did all of this, got people together, funded it, so on and so forth. He spoke with me about it when he called to check up on you asking if I had seen you. He relayed he was going out of town on business and didn't want this welcoming to be a bust, so I stepped in."

Sasuke's smile grew, and he thanked his friend. After conversing for a few minutes longer catching up with Shikamaru, he excused himself and walked back towards the brunette still sitting on the sofa. This was very welcoming indeed; it felt great to feel so much love in the room for him and Neji. It reminded him of the reception for their wedding. The tears that were shed from happiness, the embarrassing yet funny toasts people gave, and the overflowing love and joy he felt to have his relationship with Neji be celebrated. It was a day he would always hold near and dear to his heart, but there was only one thing missing from that experience…

Everyone's attention was turned away from another as they noticed Hinata and Naruto sauntering down the steps. Whispers could be heard as everyone anticipated the unraveling of the pink blanket she had bundled up in her arms.

"Here you go," Hinata said with a smile once reaching Neji and Sasuke. She handed the wrapped blanket to Neji whose eyes sparkled upon seeing the small face revealed in the center of it.

There she was- his newborn baby girl, soundly sleeping in his arms. His arms began to quiver, and as he felt a rush of tears flood into the corners of his eyes, he bit his bottom lip. Peopled awed and there were sniffles heard in the background as they watched Neji's reaction to first seeing his daughter.

His heart began to flutter as he marveled at her beauty- her porcelain skin radiated beautifully underneath the light of their home. Her hair was black, and her short curls bounced underneath the breeze the ceiling fan gave off. She had a tiny nose shaped just like Neji's, and her lips were a pale pink; they were pouty lips, and he giggled at the face those little lips made her give off.

Finally seeing her face and holding her small frame in his arms, he felt a sense of accomplishment wave over him. He had done what he set out to do, and what was better- he had survived; he would be able to live his days alongside his daughter, giving her the world if he can. He had already proven he could do the impossible, and the doubts he had about raising a girl had flittered far away from his mind. He was ready to make that journey- he was happy to make that journey.

Naruto stood behind a teary eyed Hinata with his arms around her waist as they looked upon her glowing cousin with his baby girl in his arms. "You did a wonderful job," he whispered in her ear, placing his head on her shoulder and giving her a light squeeze which she lovingly accepted.

Neji turned to Sasuke who still hadn't seen his daughter's face because of the way the blanket was placed. "Do you want to hold her?" he asked, earning a gulp from Sasuke, and he chuckled, "she's not going to bite, you know?"

Sasuke moved hesitantly to sit next to his husband; he was handed the wrapped child after he settled into the couch's cushions. His arms were shaky and he took another gulp as he received the heavier than normal blanket. Pulling her into his lap, he looked down to her- his heart racing as he took in her features.

"She looks just like you," Neji noted, laying his head onto Sasuke's shoulder still gazing at his daughter.

"Yeah, she really does," he said surprisingly.

"What are you all going to name her?" Hinata asked the new parents.

They looked at each other, giving a small nod of the head and smiling. "We're going to name her Keiko, because she truly is a gift from above."

"I think that's perfect," Naruto chimed in, giving a thumb up and a bright big smile.

Sasuke gave a thumb up in return, and both men looked back to their daughter and to each other.

"Thank you," Sasuke softly spoke to Neji, earning a crush of his husband's lips to his own.

_You're welcome._

**-End-**

**A/N: Thank you to those who have followed, favorited, and reviewed regularly since the beginning of this story. This author's note is to tell you all that this is the last chapter for the story. I hope this has been an enjoyable and successful story and for those who followed, I hope it has become a favorite for you. **

**Also, be on the lookout for the prequel and sequel to this story; I am not sure when I will be uploading it due to other fics I have in mind and have started working on, but they will make their way up someday. Once again thank you guys for the feedback. I really appreciate it all **


	9. Epilogue

**A/N: You: "I thought the story was finished?!" Me: Yes, yes, I know, but with how the last few chapters played out, this has been on my mind for a while now; so, I figured I needed to add a little extra something to tie up a loose end...and here it is! Enjoy!**

* * *

**-Epilogue-**

**6 weeks later...**

Bright sun rays filtered themselves through opened blinds. A crisp breeze whisked its way through the opened window's screen; Sasuke laid alone on his couch smelling the sweet air as it hit his nostrils, and basked in the warm comfort of the rays as they touched his skin. It was a relaxing day; after returning to piles of documents stacked high on his desk when he went back to work a few weeks ago, he thankfully reveled in the solitude he was left in today.

_Solitude_, he thought to himself as he sat up, running his slender fingers through the tuft of ebony locks atop his head. He rose to his feet, walking from the living room to the staircase and sauntered upward. _I wonder…_his thoughts trailed off as he reached the top, turning a corner and walking towards a slightly cracked door in the middle of the hallway.

Peeking into the room, Sasuke placed his hand on the wooden door, pushing it open lightly to avoid making it creak at the hinges. He slowly stepped in, bringing himself to walk on the balls of his feet as he trudged inward.

The same rays that illuminated the living room invaded the space, reflecting beautifully off the yellow walls of the room. He stepped in, taking in the sight of the nursery Hinata and Neji had spent days working on during his pregnancy. He stopped in front of the tall white bookcase filled with various books and pictures of him and his beautiful husband; he smiled at the different photos portraying the journey he and Neji had made in their years together. Continuing to scan the elegantly decorated room, he felt the breeze graze the hairs of his arm, and he turned towards the window. The light air traveled softly through the atmosphere, flowing against the material of the crib's skirt.

He walked towards the crib, and peaked over to see his sleeping baby girl. Man, was she beautiful. If there was ever a female that interested him, it was the sight of his daughter. Questions swam through his mind as he gazed at her. What kind of life he would be able to provide for her? What would be her first word? What school would he and Neji send her to? What kind of guys would she date? The last question irked him a little; he couldn't think of his precious newborn going through the things he did in high school with his fan girls.

As the thoughts continued in his mind, he heard a soft whimper come from below. His little one squirmed in her crib; a pained look marred her tiny round face as she tightened her already closed eyes. As a little cry escaped from her lips, Sasuke reached over and gently picked the little person up into his arms, cradling her.

As he looked down at the tiny child crying in his arms, he felt a nervous pang in his stomach. He didn't know what to do; this was the first time neither Neji nor Hinata had been there with him and Keiko. With his overloaded schedule at work, Neji had become a full-time dad. Sasuke would only see her when he came in at night, and by then, she would be fast asleep in his brunette husband's arms. A job change was in consideration; the constant being away from his family made Sasuke's heart ache.

"Shhh, shhh," he tried calming Keiko down keeping his voice near a whisper, "it's going to be okay." He walked towards the chair in the opposite corner of the room. He took a seat in the suede cushion of the glider, leaned it back, and placed Keiko upon his chest; he began to rock, and the swaying motion soothed the irritable newborn. The rise and fall of her chest from her breathing sent warmth tickling his insides. She was so beautiful, so sweet, and so little. He looked down towards her, marveling at her porcelain like skin and short, jet black tendrils that curled upon her head.

_She looks just like me_ he noted as he placed his finger under her tiny palm to grasp onto. His lips curved upward at the gentle squeeze of his hand around the digit.

He continued to rock and leaned his head back, closing his eyes at the serene feeling. "I- I can't believe how I acted towards you at first," his thoughts began to pour from his lips unexpectedly. "I should be ashamed for my actions, and honestly, I feel nothing but regret. The most precious moments of your life, your first hours in this world, and I wasn't there for you."

His leg began to tremble, and his voice began to crack as emotions riled themselves up within him. "What kind of father am I? I couldn't even bring myself to face you, blaming you for the state your father was in. A grown man charging a helpless, defenseless infant for something they didn't do." He moved his free hand to caress her small body, and tears began to form in the corners of his eyes as he looked down towards the peacefully sleeping newborn on his chest.

"I'm so sorry, Keiko," he bit his quivering bottom lip, "I hope that one day you can forgive me."

A hiccup escaped from her throat, and the soft jump of her body made him chuckle as a few tears slipped down his cheeks. He placed a kiss to the top of her head, taking in the delicate scent of the shampoo Hinata had given them for her hair. This was going to be his moment; he was going to redeem himself.

"I promise I'm going to make it up to you," he nuzzled his nose in her silky tresses. "I promise I'm going to be the best father you could ever hope for."

/End.

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**A/N: Now that I've cleared that last little detail, the story is now 100% complete! Well, I'm actually considering doing a re-write; maybe not a complete one, but to go back and change some scenes that aren't sitting too well with me right now. Anywho, thank you all for reading!**


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